- Coinbase’s Base recently experienced its “first major outage” that halted block production for nearly an hour.
- Since its launch on August 9, 2023, Base has amassed over 1 million unique addresses and has attracted over $400 million to its mainnet.
- The Base network has enabled the growth of innovative platforms like Friend.Tech, a social networking application, and Aerodrome, a low-fee DEX.
Coinbase’s Base, a layer-2 network built on Ethereum, recently experienced an issue that brought its block production to a standstill. On Tuesday, users noticed and reported that the blockchain was not producing new blocks, a fundamental process for any blockchain network. Coinbase’s team quickly acknowledged the issue and swung into action. According to a status update, the stall was due to “part of our internal infrastructure requiring a refresh.”
In less than 45 minutes, the team had deployed a fix and reported that block production and “gossip,” the node-to-node exchange of state information, were starting to recover. The quick resolution assured the community that no funds were at risk, and although the issue was severe enough to be called Base’s “first major outage,” the prompt action by the Coinbase team prevented a crisis. However, the incident served as a reminder that layer-2 solutions like Base, while promising, are not as battle-tested as the Ethereum mainnet.
Base’s Rapid Growth
Before the halt, Base had been enjoying a rapid ascent in the blockchain space. It has been labeled as the “fastest-growing” layer-2 network by some reports, managing to accumulate 1 million unique addresses within just 11 days of its official launch on August 9, 2023. Its mainnet had attracted over $175 million since its launch, and by August 10, 580,000 transactions were already recorded.
One key driver behind Base’s growth is its extensive integration. Within weeks of its announcement, over 140 integrations were announced, ranging from DeFi projects to cross-chain transactions. Notably, Base has also fueled the growth of new social network Friend.Tech, which has seen significant user activity.
Friend.Tech and Aerodrome
Friend.Tech, a social network platform built on the Base blockchain, allows users to buy or sell shares tied to people on the app, bringing a new type of interaction to the realm of social networking. This has led to a surge in Base’s daily active users to 136,000, overtaking its rival Optimism in terms of user engagement.
Similarly, Aerodrome, a platform for swapping tokens for low fees, has quickly attracted $150 million in deposits just a day after going live. The platform aims to act as a “business development protocol” for the Base ecosystem, adding significant liquidity and supporting new projects.
However, the speedy rise hasn’t been without bumps. A meme coin called BALD launched on Base suffered a nearly 90% price drop after its deployer executed a “rug pull,” removing a whopping $25.6 million worth of liquidity.
Base has shown itself to be a promising layer-2 solution with quick adoption, integration, and real-world applications. Its recent block production stall was a concerning but instructive episode, offering both a testament to the Base team’s quick action and a cautionary tale highlighting the nascent risks associated with layer-2 networks.
