Daily Active Addresses on Base Surge Past 2 Million Mark

Base, the Ethereum layer-2 protocol created by the crypto exchange Coinbase, has recently seen a significant rise in activity, leading to a noteworthy increase in its daily active addresses.

According to data from the on-chain analytics service IntoTheBlock, the spike in Base’s daily active addresses is attributed to the launch of Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC) along with the introduction of the Base Name Service (BNS).

Surge in Base Active Addresses

Coinbase introduced cbBTC on Base and Ethereum on September 12, following the integration of the Lightning Network for Bitcoin (BTC) transfers on its protocol months earlier. This wrapped token is backed 1:1 by BTC and held by the exchange, granting users access to various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, protocols, use cases, and features.

In under two weeks post-launch, cbBTC has attracted over 3,500 users, with an average of $472 million in BTC settled daily on Base.

While cbBTC is a major factor behind the increase in Base’s daily active addresses, IntoTheBlock indicates that the excitement surrounding BNS is playing an even more significant role.

Coinbase launched the Base Name Service on August 21, enabling users to create their identity on the network by registering human-readable names for their addresses. Similar to the Ethereum Name Service (ENS), it provides a cohesive naming service and on-chain identity experience for all users on Base.

Impact of Basenames

Just three days after the introduction of Basenames, the daily active addresses on Base soared to a record 1.05 million. This figure has since doubled, surpassing two million just one month later.

Data from the Ethereum layer-2 analytics platform GrowThePie indicates that Base currently holds 70% of the active addresses among layer-2 networks based on Ethereum, with Arbitrum following at 9.6%. Base overtook Arbitrum in late June and has continued to lead the protocol ever since. Over the past week, Base recorded more than 6.8 million active addresses, while Arbitrum had less than 943,000.

It’s important to note that while cbBTC has contributed to the growth of Base, it has faced criticism. The crypto community has expressed concerns regarding Coinbase’s transparency regarding its Bitcoin reserves and the token’s user agreement, which implies the exchange may not fully compensate users for BTC lost due to malicious acts or unforeseen circumstances.