Base | Crypto

Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 Base said it will be upgrading its chain to allow AI agents to use it the same way developers or traders would. Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network Base said it is upgrading key systems in preparation for an AI agent economy as part of its newly released 2026 roadmap, joining the race to support the growing agentic AI ecosystem.  AI agents are discovering crypto markets as their native economy, “building, owning, and trading alongside us,” said Base in its 2026 mission, vision, and strategy update on Tuesday.  Base added that its goal is to build a foundation for an AI agent economy by focusing on building global markets, scaling payments and stablecoins and attracting more developers.  Read more

The Bitcoin lending protocol will allocate 2.25% of its token supply to Aerodrome users as it looks to expand activity for its token and stablecoin. Mezo, a Bitcoin-native lending protocol, will collaborate with Aerodrome Finance to support trading activity for its token and Bitcoin-backed stablecoin on the Base network, as projects look for ways to bring more financial use cases to Bitcoin. In a Thursday announcement, Mezo said it will allocate 2.25% of its MEZO token supply to Aerodrome’s vote-escrow (veAERO) participants — users who lock tokens in exchange for governance rights and rewards. The program is designed to encourage those users to direct funds into MEZO trading pairs, increasing activity around the token and its US dollar-backed stablecoin, MUSD. Aerodrome is a liquidity provider on Base built by the team behind Optimism, a configurable enterprise blockchain infrastructure. Read more

Omnes and Apex plan to issue a tokenized Bitcoin mining debt note on Base, giving eligible non-US investors exposure to hashrate-linked returns. Financial technology company Omnes and financial services provider Apex Group said on Tuesday that they plan to issue a tokenized secured debt note backed by Bitcoin hashrate on Base. The two companies announced that they would tokenize the Omnes Mining Note (OMN), an institutional-grade structured note backed by the Bitcoin (BTC) hashrate. The companies said it will be issued and managed on the Base blockchain, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network. Apex said the note is designed to give institutional investors “direct economic exposure to new Bitcoin production measured in hashrate” without the operational burden of managing mining hardware, energy procurement and facilities. Read more

The system enables AI agents to automatically pay for blockchain data and compute credits in USDC, as autonomous crypto applications gain traction. Blockchain infrastructure company Alchemy has launched a system that allows autonomous AI agents to buy compute credits and access its blockchain data services using onchain wallets and USDC on Base. According to the company’s announcement, the initial release allows AI agents to directly query blockchain networks, check nonfungible token (NFT) ownership, view wallet balances across multiple chains and access live token price data, with additional networks and services planned. If an agent exhausts its prepaid compute credits, Alchemy issues a payment request that can be automatically settled in USDC (USDC) on Base, allowing the agent to continue operating without human intervention. Read more

Base rode SocialFi, memecoins and AI agents to the top of Ethereum’s layer-2 ladder before turning inward to rebuild its core stack. Base will transition to a unified, internally maintained stack, expected to be its biggest architectural shift since launch. After debuting in 2023 as a rollup built on Optimism’s OP Stack, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 is now consolidating its software into an in-house distribution, which can unlock faster upgrades and greater autonomy over its technical roadmap. It has been three years since Base launched its testnet. The network has experienced SocialFi explosions and ridden its own memecoin wave. It even went through a phase that both fascinated and unnerved Crypto Twitter as AI agents began transacting on its chain. Read more

The Base engineering team said the protocol would remain open-source and encouraged developers to continue building unique implementations. Base, a decentralized Ethereum layer-2 scaling network, said Wednesday that it is transitioning from running on L2 blockchain protocol Optimism’s tech stack to running on its own, unified software architecture. Launched in 2023 as an Optimism chain, Base is shifting to its own tech stack to reduce dependencies on external service providers and shorten the time it takes to ship new upgrades, according to an announcement from Base. The team said: The transition is also expected to simplify the Base network’s sequencer, which helps network validators to order transactions, the Base engineering team said.  Read more

Base launched in 2023 and quickly became one of the most widely used Ethereum layer-2 networks.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has signaled a fundamental shift in the blockchain’s roadmap that declares the era of the “branded shard” effectively over. On Feb. 3, Buterin argued that the industry’s previous “rollup-centric” vision no longer makes sense, citing faster scaling on the main Ethereum layer and the sluggish pace of decentralization among major rollups. […] The post Vitalik Buterin takes shot at Coinbase’s corporate control of Base which dominates 60% of layer 2 income appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Base’s Jesse Pollak says L2s can’t be “Ethereum but cheaper” as builders respond to Vitalik Buterin’s call for specialization. Several layer-2 builders responded after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said the original vision of L2s as the primary scaling engine “no longer makes sense,” calling for a shift toward specialization. In a Wednesday post, Buterin argued that many L2s have failed to fully inherit Ethereum’s security due to continued reliance on multisig bridges, while the base layer is increasingly capable of handling more throughput via gas-limit increases and future native rollups. The comments prompted responses from Ethereum layer 2s, who broadly agreed that rollups must evolve beyond being cheaper versions of Ethereum but diverged on whether scaling should remain central to their role. Read more

Base is rolling out month-long infrastructure upgrades aimed at preventing future transaction delays and improving overall network reliability. Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network Base said recent slow or missing transactions were caused by a configuration error that has been fixed. Over the weekend, Base users experienced elevated transaction drops and delays in getting transactions included onchain. Despite the slowdown, blocks continued to be produced and the network remained operational, suggesting that the incident didn’t cause a full outage. In a Wednesday post on X, Base explained that a change to transaction propagation led the block builder to repeatedly fetch transactions that could not be executed as base fees climbed quickly. Read more

Onchain asset manager Maple is taking syrupUSDC to Coinbase’s Base network, adding institutional credit rails while pursuing Aave's Base instance next. Onchain asset manager Maple is extending its yield-bearing US dollar token, syrupUSDC, to Coinbase’s Base network, plugging institutional credit directly into a fast‑growing Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem. According to a Thursday release shared with Cointelegraph, the launch will provide the company with a “direct path” to Coinbase’s broader ecosystem of users and products, while making institutional-grade yield available to a wider base of onchain users, rather than keeping it siloed on the Ethereum mainnet. An Aave governance proposal is also currently live to onboard syrupUSDC as collateral on the Aave V3 Base Instance, if the vote passes. Read more

Coinbase's "everything exchange" includes an all-in-one platform as competition intensifies among crypto firms chasing the super app model. Coinbase intends to prioritize stablecoins, its Ethereum layer-2 Base and building out its exchange products past cryptocurrencies throughout 2026, according to CEO Brian Armstrong. In a New Year’s social media post Armstrong reaffirmed Coinbase’s “everything exchange” strategy, which includes products like prediction markets, equities and commodities. At its year-end conference in December, Coinbase launched stock trading and prediction markets as part of its push. The company has also rebranded its wallet app as an “everything app,” adding social networking and onchain features. Read more

Base’s push into creator coins is facing mounting criticism from traders and builders after Nick Shirley’s token on Zora spiked to about a $9 million valuation and then promptly slumped. Coinbase and its Ethereum layer-2 Base are drawing pushback from traders and builders who argue that its creator token experiment failed to turn a viral social media moment into sustained onchain activity. The backlash came after YouTuber Nick Shirley launched a token on creator platform Zora. Shirley’s token briefly rode his online fame to about a $9 million fully diluted value before sliding to $3 million. Most of the volume came from existing traders rather than new users. In a widely shared critique, trader and content creator notthreadguy argued that if Shirley couldn’t make the model work, nobody could.  Read more

Builders on Base are pushing back against the network’s close alignment with Zora, arguing the creator-coin narrative sidelines established projects.

Base launched a bridge to Solana on Dec. 4, and within hours, Solana’s most vocal builders accused Jesse Pollak of running a vampire attack disguised as interoperability. The bridge uses Chainlink CCIP and Coinbase infrastructure to let users move assets between Base and Solana, with early integrations in Zora, Aerodrome, Virtuals, Flaunch, and Relay. These […] The post Is Base’s Solana bridge a ‘vampire attack’ on SOL liquidity or multichain pragmatism? appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Aerodrome Finance confirmed a DNS hijacking attack compromised its primary domains, forcing the Base DEX to redirect users to decentralized ENS mirrors while investigating phishing attempts that targeted multiple assets through malicious approval requests. The post Base’s Top DEX Aerodrome Hit by a Suspected Frontend Security Breach appeared first on Cryptonews.

Two traders captured more than $1.3 million in profits by exploiting Base’s new “flashblocks” system during the debut of the network founder’s creator coin.

For decades, wholesale dollar settlement has meant waiting for Fedwire to open, and JPMorgan just stopped waiting. The bank converted its permissioned “JPM Coin” system into JPMD, a deposit token backed by insured balances at JPMorgan, and placed it on Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 (L2) Base. Pilot transactions with B2C2, Coinbase, and Mastercard are already live. […] The post JPMorgan just put JPM Coin bank deposits on Base – and beat the Fed to 24/7 settlement appeared first on CryptoSlate.

JPMorgan sees Coinbase unlocking billions through its Base layer-2 network and USDC rewards overhaul, lifting its price target and fueling a sharp stock rally. Shares of Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) rallied sharply on Friday after JPMorgan Chase upgraded the cryptocurrency exchange, highlighting new monetization opportunities tied to its Base network and USDC payout strategy. The bank’s analysts lifted their rating to “Overweight” from “Neutral” and raised their price target to $404 per share, implying roughly 15% upside from current levels. JPMorgan said Coinbase is “leaning into” its Base layer-2 blockchain and exploring ways to better capture value from the platform’s growth.  Read more

JPMorgan sees Coinbase unlocking billions through its Base layer-2 network and USDC rewards overhaul, lifting its price target and fueling a sharp stock rally. Shares of Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) rallied sharply on Friday after JPMorgan Chase upgraded the cryptocurrency exchange, highlighting new monetization opportunities tied to its Base network and USDC payout strategy. The bank’s analysts lifted their rating to “Overweight” from “Neutral” and raised their price target to $404 per share, implying roughly 15% upside from current levels. JPMorgan said Coinbase is “leaning into” its Base layer-2 blockchain and exploring ways to better capture value from the platform’s growth.  Read more