Bankless: An opportunity to decode Coinbase L2

The rapid advances in decentralization, the wild leaps in on-chain security, and the ability of Base to go from a test net on February 1st to a launch mainnet in two months were all made possible by OP Stack. Coinbase's ability to provide battle-tested Optimism for its rollup was a huge driver of Base's speed of development.

So are they just mooching off the Optimism of Team Optimism?

Not so. In fact, Coinbase is partnering with Optimism as a second core contributor to OP Stack. With two L2 teams building on the same stack, development will be accelerated.

Base development will benefit from an open source and freely available extension solution codebase, rollup itself built on top of Ethereum.

A portion of Base's transaction fees will go to the Optimism Collective to fund public goods on Optimism. In addition, Coinbase has committed to starting a Base Native Ecosystem Fund!

In addition to increasing speed and enhancing cooperation between teams, the future of OP Stack offers atomized composability for chains that share sets of sequers, thanks to standardized messaging formats between OP Stack chains!

That's the power of the OP Stack flywheel.

Coinbase's vision

Coinbase is more than a simple trading platform.

Its offerings include digital asset pledge solutions, liquid pledge derivatives, institutional custody solutions, unmanaged wallet products, in-app integrated DeFi accessibility, and more. Base is a natural extension of this product line and can provide Coinbase users with an opportunity to immerse themselves directly into the Web3 world.

While Coinbase has established a reputable brand as a trusted user port for crypto trading and speculation, the increasing adoption of DeFi and other on-chain primitives will create a demand for a direct and reliable port, To meet the needs of a growing number of users --Coinbase aims to be a service provider and trusted front end for users.

Coinbase sees itself as the primary gateway for on-chain activity, and Base and the protocols built on top of it, including dApps developed by Coinbase, are not only good for raising the company's floor, but could provide a positive boost to the broader crypto economy.

A simple, relatively risk-free solution to interact with Web3 is highly desirable for Coinbase's broad audience. The company aims to provide a default, out-of-the-box experience with the goal of removing users' fear of interacting with the blockchain - a major friction point for getting into Web3.

In addition, Coinbase aims to direct its 110 million verified users to facilitate low-cost DApp user acquisition.

The current airdrop program is highly susceptible and usually results in only brief bursts of activity and a spike in TVL. Base will act as the infrastructure layer for the protocols that want to acquire new users, and at the same time concatenate users' choices and connect them to the services they need.

Credit card providers and banks use financial incentives to attract new users and change behaviour; Coinbase believes it can revolutionize consumer acquisition for Web3 with a similar model.

When will the coins be issued?

你是否希望你 90% 的 Coinbase 垃圾币投资组合能让你有资格获得一笔 BASE 空投？又或者你是一个正在寻找 Token 分配的 COIN 股权持有人？

我很痛苦地告诉大家 Coinbase 的坏消息：事实是，没有关于 BASE Token 的计划。

BNB's competitors?

We don't think so...

Given the lack of perpetuals and other highly leveraged trading schemes, Coinbase's user base tends to be less degen. With Coinbase's customers becoming the most likely users of Base, it's unlikely we'll see a similar surge in leverage. Borrowing leverage is conducive to generating revenue and thus attracting TVLS.

Not only is a primary DeFi use case likely to gain less traction on the Base, but the resulting lack of demand for leverage may translate into lower yield generation, reduced TVL, and reduced transaction volume, curtailed network activity and fee generation.

In addition, many Coinbase users already have access to alternative financial solutions on the established TradFi marketplace.

BNB 已经找到了一个利基，为发展中市场缺乏稳定货币或复杂金融系统的用户提供了低费用的选择。尽管加密资产的定价存在波动，但 Token （特别是货币品种）为受高通胀率影响的当地货币提供了一个有价值的选择。点对点交易在链上很常见，去许可借贷市场替代了传统的生息储蓄账户。

In January 2023, Coinbase's monthly physical trading volume accounted for 5.0% ($55.32 billion) of the combined $1.108 trillion of monthly physical, BTC futures and ETH futures trading recorded by Binance.

Unfortunately, the Western financial system is stuck in a bygone era.

Peer-to-peer transactions take place on Venmo and CashApp and take three days to clear. We have accepted a partial reserve banking system that we are forced to participate in and live in a society that runs on plastic cards and ApplePay.

In the markets where Coinbase has the deepest penetration, the transition to Web3 has been more difficult for consumers because they have access to traditional financial solutions and feel more comfortable continuing their old habits than transitioning to the unknown world of Web3.

Bullish OP

The undisputed winner in Coinbase's announcement was OP. Coinbase's choice to build its Base on the OP Stack is a huge win for Optimism ecology!

Today's announcement basically informs the public of an absolutely huge amount of Optimism about the acquisition of the core team! Not only has Optimism garnered the developer's support for free, but Base has also ceding a percentage of transaction revenue to its sister chain!

This move by Coinbase really validates the OP Stack flywheel theory: Adding a mass core contributor provides rollup with an additional incentive to build or migrate to OP Stack!

It's no secret that Optimism is built on the OP Stack; The same goes for Metis and Boba. Adding Coinbase as the first core contributor will enable the joint team to destroy the blockers and develop the best Optimism rollup solution. As more rollup systems are built on top of OP Stack, the design flexibility provided will only increase with modularity and open source support.

With atomic synthesis capabilities emerging in the future, OP Stack could unleash a world of highly specialised rollup solutions for DEXs, GameFi, NFT trading or any other Optimism of aspiration.

The launch of OP Stack lowers the barrier to setting up its own rollup, and just as liquidity generates liquidity, core contributors generate core contributors.

Rollup summer coming to an OP Stack near you?

Trouble in heaven?

How strange... Why is there a blue dot next to "Trouble in Paradise"?

While the launch of Coinbase Native L2 sounds awesome, we're not convinced that it will (and should) change your COIN investment thesis much. Coinbase certainly has users and assets, but they're a long way from getting users into the Base and Web3 world.

However, the crypto native lending market offers stablecoin rates that are far better than the 0.0001% a year accrued on a Wells Fargo savings account! I think it's going to be a big challenge.

Everyone would want to do that.

Coinbase has provided an in-app hosting method for their customers to access Web3 and use dApps. Nothing is easier than that!

While Coinbase claims that Base will lower user acquisition fees compared to airdrops, while connecting users to the protocols they need, providing guidance along the way, these claims seem unfounded.

Coinbase's "Learning Rewards" TAB already provides a platform for the agreement to connect with their 110 million users. In addition, the "Web3" TAB already provides users with recommended dApps and even social signals in the form of community stars.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to Base's success is the challenging regulatory environment Coinbase operates in as a publicly traded company on the U.S. stock market.

与 Optimism 不同的是，Optimism 使用 OP 来资助公共产品，并通过经常性的空投来激励行为 -- 或者其竞争对手 Arbitrum（尚未推出 Token ）可能会实施精心设计的空投，以吸引流动性和可持续的采用 --Coinbase 在不久之后推出 Token 的机会是无限小的。

Getting the legal department to approve a de-licensed rollup can be a onerous task, And the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Stock Exchange (NYDFS), the U.S. Central Bank (OCC), or some other authority with jurisdiction over the U.S. financial system could still go to Coinbase over Base.

Issue a Token? The funny thing is, there's no way.

在美国开始为空投以及美股如何发行空投制定明确的监管框架之前，在没有潜在 Token 的情况下，相对于其竞争对手，Base 将处于重大不利地位。

Optimistic outlook

Coinbase does have one factor in its favor: it still has solid brand equity.

While consumers may be reluctant to use protocols like Aave and Uniswap, which are listed in the Coinbase Web3 column, that could change with the launch of Coinbase-branded dApps. I can certainly see the most frictionless way to get unfamiliar non-crypto natives into Web3 through branded products from traders.

Base may well be the gateway to licensing and KYC DeFi, but the chain is certainly not just KYC.

After all, as Jesse Pollak, head of Coinbase web3, mentioned in an interview, Coinbase's attempts at scaling solutions include a set of infrastructure products with decentralized identity basics.

With limited regulatory transparency, institutions unclear on how to deal with DeFi, and litigious regulators hot on their heels, Coinbase branded, semi-licensed dApps could serve as a kiddie pool in DeFi's scary world. Coinbase already has these relationships, providing custody and prime brokerage services for institutions and high net worth individuals.

Institution  

Is it possible that Base could serve as a launch pad for Coinbase-branded dapp, providing comfort to these entities from a regulatory risk and funding security perspective? If so, this could be a huge unlock, opening up the DeFi world to a category of reluctant investors who previously faced structural barriers to entering the space!

Make no mistake, the launch of Base is a huge achievement for the entire Coinbase team and represents an incredible leap forward for OP Stack. But the reality is that consumers prefer to live within TradFi's walled garden and remain hesitant to chain. While Coinbase has 110 million verified users and holds $80 billion in assets on the platform, only a fraction of that is likely to migrate to Base.

Still, $80 billion is a very large number for Coinbase, and a mere 2.5% migration would be enough to leap-over Arbitrum and ensure that Base would become TVL's fourth largest chain.

Blockchain technology is still in its infancy! With 10 million active addresses and about 1 million actual individuals transacting on the chain every month, the potential for growth is huge.

Coinbase's decision to pout and create its own L2 is a huge vote of confidence in Ethereum and the broader crypto financial system, and could pay off big time at some unknown point in the future, but it's worth noting that Optimism and Arbitrum only made $9 million in revenue over the past year, Coinbase's top-line revenue topped $3 billion.

For the foreseeable future, there is little chance that Base will serve any purpose other than as a money trap.

While Coinbase has provided every indication that it intends to be a faithful steward of the Ethereum ecosystem, with its contributions to OP Stack and becoming RocketPool oDAO  Members (and other actions) to promote decentralization, but it's still critical to hold the company to their end of the bargain.

And remember, guys: DYOR, don't ape in. By the time you read this disclaimer, the facts reflected here are likely already factored into the price of COIN and OP!

你的优势不在于试图超越使用光纤连接的高频算法交易员，你的优势在于了解加密领域的发展，并在 Token （和加密货币股票）中进行具有巨大不对称上升空间的高预测性赌注！你的优势在于了解加密领域的发展。

Bullish? Or bearish? Check out our live stream for more details on Coinbase's big announcement.

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