Welcome to the Onchain Summer. Season trends point out that Base is the next big chain to know about
Coinbase’s Layer-2 blockchain, Base, has garnered quite some hype within the Web3 community, thanks to its easy-to-use ecosystem, and partnerships with prominent global brands. In this guide we take a look at the technical details of Base, and explore ways to discover the trending dapps in the Base ecosystem.
What is the Base blockchain?
Base, developed by centralized crypto exchange giant Coinbase, is a Layer-2 blockchain solution that capitalizes on the benefits of the OP Stack from Optimism. With over 100 dapps and service providers at launch in August 2023, Base brings forth near-zero gas fees, speedy transactions, and fortified security backed by Ethereum’s robustness.
Coinbase incubates Base internally, leveraging ten years of experience from building crypto products. However, Base needs to decentralize over time.
Base aims to be decentralized, permissionless, and open to anyone. They built their network using OP Stack, and therefore shares the vision of the modular, optimistic rollup agnostic superchain. The idea is that all chains built using OP Stack, can easily move assets between them without any big hurdles.
How does Base work?
Base is an optimistic rollup, utilizing the OP Stack. Rollups process transactions off-chain in batches, reducing transaction costs and putting less stress on the network. With OP Stack, transactions get bundled to reduce cost. This process is executed on the Base mainnet, but finalized on the Ethereum mainnet. Therefore, Base uses the security of the Ethereum blockchain.
Like other optimistic rollups, Base assumes that a transaction is valid. These means that additional computations aren’t required initially. However, the system will run a fraud-proof to verify a suspicious transaction. This method keeps costs down.
Base token and airdrop
It’s worth noting that Base has no intentions of introducing a new network token at the moment, with ETH serving as its native gas token. Caution is advised against potential scammers who might offer or distribute fake Base tokens.
However, if Base will ever launch a token, then being active in that ecosystem will increase the chance of Base token airdrop eligibility.
Connect your wallet to Base
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to help you connect your wallet to the Base blockchain.
- Use MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet, and connect it to the Base blockchain
- Simply “Change / add network”, and add the following details:
- RPC endpoint: https://mainnet.base.org
- Chain ID: 8453
- Currency symbol: ETH
- Block explorer: https://basescan.org
Now that your wallet is connected, it’s time to bridge some ETH from Ethereum or other EVM-chains to Base.
Is Base compatible with Ethereum and other EVM chains?
Certainly! Base’s EVM compatibility ensures seamless interaction between the platform and decentralized applications originally designed for Ethereum and other EVM chains. This adaptability means that applications can be effortlessly transitioned to the Base network.
As a testament to this compatibility, several EVM-based applications, including notable names like OpenSea, Aave, PoolTogether, Uniswap, Galxe, Iskra, and Pixelmon, have already integrated with Base, leveraging its features and expanding their reach.
Best dapps on Base
DappRadar is chain agnostic, but we can’t deny the innovation coming from the Base community. Social dapps like FriendTech became a huge success in the Web3 community, while smaller projects like the walk-your-dog-to-earn dapp LOOTaDOG offer a unique product or service.
Through the Base dapp rankings you can find all dapps we’ve listed, and you can apply filters to narrow down your search. We sort these rankings based on the number of unique active wallets (UAW) interacting with the dapps.
To start your journey into Base, you could consider some of these dapps:
- Stargate – a bridging platform to move tokens between different chains
- Dmail Network – social messaging platform that includes emails and marketing services
- Parallel – a popular trading card game
- Frens On Chain – a digital pet project with dynamic NFTs
Looking for more dapps, or not interested in the ones mentioned above? Please visit the Base chain page, or go to the Base dapp rankings.
Finding Base dapps with DappRadar
DappRadar now tracks all activity on the Base blockchain. Head to our Top Dapps Ranking to explore how Base influences its applications and the entire Web3 industry.
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