Coinbase Base Platform Sees 25% Jump in TVL Last Week

Coinbase’s Ethereum-based Layer-2 network aka the Base platform has been driving strong action in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market over the last week.

Based on data from L2Beat, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in the Base network has surged by 25.23% over the past week, reaching $558 million. This growth has allowed it to surpass zkSync Era, which stood at $435 million. The primary driver of this increase was the re-minting of native USDC on the network on October 4th, resulting in a remarkable 470.55% surge to a total of 159 million USDC.

USDC Launch on the Base Platform

Last month, USDC stablecoin issuer Circle announced the launch of the stablecoin on the Base platform. The launch was a strategic move by Circle to enhance the functionality of USDC by introducing the stablecoin on additional blockchains as a native token. This approach eliminates the necessity for bridging through Ethereum tokens.

When the Coinbase Base network was initially launched on August 9, Coinbase users and Circle account holders were unable to transfer USDC directly from their exchange accounts to the Base network. Instead, Base users had to depend on a bridged variant of USDC known as “USDbC” for conducting U.S. dollar transactions.

Base – A Strong Contender in DeFi Space

Base represents an Ethereum Layer 2 solution collaboratively developed by the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, in conjunction with Optimism. Its primary aim is to furnish a secure, economically efficient, and user-friendly environment conducive to the creation of on-chain applications. It is fully compatible with all EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) wallets as well as the Coinbase wallet.

The Base platform is quickly emerging as a strong contender in the DeFi space. Soon after the Base’s launch in early August, top market players started experimenting with the platform. Softdrink giant Coca-Cola unveiled its ‘Masterpiece’ NFT collection on the Base platform soon after.

Last month, Coinbase Legal chief Paul Grewal also spoke of the possibility of launching a digital token on the Base platform. This would significantly improve the utility of the Base network in the DeFi space.