Ethereum Layer 2 Base daily transactions pass Optimism and Arbitrum
Quick Take
- Base jumped past the dominant Ethereum Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup networks, Arbitrum and Optimism, in terms of average daily transaction count, one week after its public launch.
- Base is also challenging the pair in new daily unique addresses and revenue generated, but Arbitrum and Optimism still dominate in terms of total value locked.
Ethereum Layer 2 network Base, incubated by the crypto exchange Coinbase, jumped past the dominant Optimistic Rollup scaling solutions Arbitrum and Optimism this week in terms of average daily transactions.
Base's seven-day moving average daily transaction count reached 610,000 on Aug. 15, compared to Optimism’s 597,000 and Arbitrum's 576,000, before falling back, according to The Block's data dashboard.
Base saw daily active users surge to over 100,000 within a day of its public mainnet launch, boosted by the social network friend.tech.
Base also led the pair for the first six days following launch by new daily unique addresses and profits generated, but these metrics have also fallen back over the last few days as the initial hype surrounding the Layer 2 dies down.
The latest data for Aug. 17 shows 24,000 new addresses generated for Base, compared to 32,000 and 29,000 for Optimism and Arbitrum, respectively.
Data from the same date shows Base generating daily revenue of $93,000 compared to Arbitrum's $358,000 and Optimism’s $231,000.
However, in terms of value locked, Arbitrum and Optimism continue to dominate, with $4.2 billion and $1.4 billion in assets, respectively, compared to the newly-launched Base's $244 million.
Onchain Summer
Base officially opened to the public on Aug. 9, featuring over 100 dapps and service providers. DeFi protocols Uniswap, SushiSwap and Compound were among the first to go live on the network. Developed on Optimism’s software stack known as the OP Stack, Base is designed to offer lower transaction fees and faster transaction speeds compared to Ethereum.
Alongside the public mainnet launch, the network rolled out its "Onchain Summer" initiative, with a series of onchain art, gaming and music projects powered by Base — aiming to demonstrate the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Layer 2 chain.
Coca-Cola’s "Masterpiece" NFT collection — combining artwork such as "The Scream" by Edvard Munch with the famous Coca-Cola bottle to form an onchain collectible — and projects like Friends With Benefits — featuring "New Era ETH" and "New Era BTC" NFTs in partnership with pseudonymous crypto individual Cozomo de' Medici — are participating in the multi-week event, which ends on Aug. 30.
It remains to be seen if Base can maintain this initial traction over the coming months.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
