In a remarkable surge within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, Coinbase’s Ethereum-based Layer-2 network, known as the Base platform, has demonstrated substantial growth over the past week.
According to data from L2Beat, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in the Base network has surged by 25.23% in the last seven days, reaching an impressive $558 million. This surge allowed the Base platform to outpace zkSync Era, which previously held $435 million in TVL. The primary catalyst behind this surge was the re-minting of native USDC on the network on October 4th, resulting in an astounding 470.55% increase to a total of 159 million USDC.
USDC Launch on the Base Platform
Last month, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, announced the integration of USDC on the Base platform. This strategic move by Circle aimed to enhance the utility of USDC by making it available as a native token on multiple blockchains, eliminating the need for bridging through Ethereum tokens.
When the Coinbase Base network initially launched on August 9th, users of Coinbase and Circle accounts were unable to directly transfer USDC from their exchange accounts to the Base network. Instead, Base users relied on a bridged version of USDC called “USDbC” for conducting U.S. dollar transactions.
Base Emerges as a Prominent Player in DeFi
Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution jointly developed by Coinbase and Optimism, is positioned as a secure, economically efficient, and user-friendly environment for the creation of on-chain applications. It boasts full compatibility with all Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) wallets, including the Coinbase wallet.
The Base platform has rapidly gained prominence in the DeFi sector. Shortly after its launch in early August, major market players began experimenting with the platform. Beverage giant Coca-Cola, for instance, unveiled its ‘Masterpiece’ NFT collection on the Base platform.
Last month, Paul Grewal, Coinbase Legal chief, hinted at the possibility of launching a digital token on the Base platform, a move that could significantly enhance the platform’s utility in the DeFi space.
