In the fast-moving crypto world, staying current is a constant challenge. Coinbase has long been the gold standard for onboarding retail users and institutions into the space. While their exchange pedigree has never been challenged, building credibility with degens and hardcore builders has been tougher. Now, their strategy is becoming clearer: they're leveling up to become a true powerhouse by leveraging their Layer 2 (L2) platform, Base, as the go-to hub for token launches and decentralized apps (dApps).

Launched in 2023 as an Ethereum L2 built on the OP Stack, Base has grown exponentially, processing millions of transactions daily with fees often dipping below a cent. As of July 2025, this flywheel is accelerating, fueled by strategic token listings, developer incentives, and seamless integrations that bridge centralized exchange (CEX) users into the onchain world. This isn't just about scaling Ethereum; it's about building a self-sustaining ecosystem where builders thrive, users engage, and Coinbase captures value at every turn.

What's often overlooked is the role Jesse Pollak (CEO of Base) plays as the figurehead driving this momentum. Through relentless community building DMing hundreds of builders and creators from every corner of the globe daily he's steering teams, creators, and individuals toward Base over competing chains. As the ultimate evangelist, Pollak has recently been championing initiatives like the Base App for composable social experiences (why I’ve posted this article on paragraph.com), where users can trade, chat, explore, and build seamlessly in one place, bridging the gap between innovative products and everyday people. His daily selfie videos and personal outreach have inspired global adoption, even exploding Base's presence in regions like Africa. Pollak is a key reason for the massive engagement around Base; his vision of "bringing the world onchain" isn't just rhetoric it's actively pulling in diverse talent, fostering cultural and economic activity, and turning Base into a force multiplier. This human led playbook is not easy but is something other Layer 2s urgently need to decode if they want to compete.

The Base Flywheel: A Primer on the Mechanics

At its core, the Base flywheel is a self-reinforcing loop. The chain boasts all the essential primitives, robust use cases, a growing user base, substantial TVL in DeFi, high TPS, and deep liquidity that naturally attract developers looking to scale their projects. This foundation is amplified by Base's offerings: developer-friendly tools, ultra-low costs, and unparalleled visibility within the Coinbase ecosystem.

As a result, developers are building innovative apps (with tokens) that pull in more users; users drive transactions, which in turn boost fees and liquidity; and the cycle perpetuates, drawing even more builders and capital into the fold.

Coinbase's recent acquisitions underscore this strategy to push deeper into onchain innovation. In November 2024, they brought on the Utopia Labs team to accelerate onchain payments within Coinbase Wallet.

Then, in January 2025, the acquisition of Spindl an onchain ads and attribution platform added firepower to enhance virality for builders, with Spindl's tech enabling targeted onchain advertising to spin the flywheel even faster.

Base's growth metrics paint a compelling picture. By mid-2025, the network had already shattered records, hitting over 13.39 million transactions in a single day on January 1, 2025, while transaction fees stayed remarkably low often under $0.01, a fraction of Ethereum's Layer 1 costs.

This low friction environment, paired with Coinbase's massive user base of millions, serves as a seamless onramp to onchain activities. As one X post from early 2025 captured it: "The @base flywheel is about to get turbocharged... More virality and distribution for builders, more users and trading activity onchain."

A game changing announcement in mid-2025 further supercharged this dynamic: Coinbase revealed that every token on Base would soon be accessible directly within their app, democratizing web3 tokens that were previously hard to acquire for everyday users. On top of that, Base's speed upgrades have been monumental, with innovations like Flashblocks introduced to make Base 10 times faster by cutting confirmation times from two seconds to just 200 milliseconds.

These smaller "preconfirmation blocks," each containing about 10% of a regular block’s transaction data and streamed in real time, enable near-instant confirmations for apps like real-time games or trading tools, pushing TPS toward 1,000 in peaks by May 2025 and putting Base in striking distance of Solana's performance while delivering a serious glow-up to the overall user experience.

Token Listings: The Marquee Unlock for Base Projects

Coinbase, alongside Binance, stands as a premier listing venue in the crypto space. But in 2025, Coinbase is strategically tying its distribution power and influence to Base, signaling a surge in listings for applications and tokens from smaller, independent teams that choose to build directly on the chain.

This isn't random, it's a deliberate move. By prioritizing listings for quality teams demonstrating product-market fit (PMF) on Base, Coinbase not only signals legitimacy but also delivers a massive distribution boost for these teams. This makes Jesse Pollak's job a bit easier when it comes to attracting new developers amid fierce competition from other chains who wouldn't want that Coinbase spotlight?

Take Aerodrome ($AERO), Base's leading DEX, will be seamlessly integrated with the Coinbase app enabling direct user flows, that has propelling TVL to over $833 million by mid-2025.

Projects like BankrBot ($BNKR) are poised for explosive growth upon listing, with community buzz on X spotlighting it as a "developer flywheel unlock" for Base.

Coinbase's transparent listing process now encompassing tokens on Base, Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, and more gives builders a clear roadmap forward.

The listing flywheel thrives because a Coinbase endorsement goes beyond a mere price surge: it grants access to institutional-grade tools, secure custody, and broad retail trust. As Base native tokens spanning top performers in AI, memes, and beyond gain this visibility, they attract fresh capital and momentum.

Again a prime example of this is BankrBot, emerging from the Base trenches with a strong organic following. This could unlock massive liquidity for the project, especially with its current pools holding around $49 million. Let's see how it evolves post listing.

Attracting Developers and Generating Revenue Streams

The real magic unfolds when these listings draw in developers, who then fuel transaction fees and broader ecosystem growth. Coinbase's "Base Buildathon" program, an evolution of their developer initiatives, aims to onboard 1 million builders by providing grants, tools, and the "New Day One" framework to create sustainable onchain experiences without over-relying on airdrops. This shifts away from the outdated "grant shop" model that failed to align incentives long-term, replacing it with the allure of potential Coinbase listings as a powerful motivator for devs.

Low development costs thanks to Base's affordable smart contract deployments and integrations like the revamped Coinbase Wallet (now transitioning into the full-fledged Base App) are making it increasingly irresistible for builders. Will other exchanges with their own Layer 2 solutions follow suit?

The Base App, positioned as a Web3 super app for creators, merges payments, social features, and mini-apps all natively on Base to enable seamless microtransactions, tipping, and onchain interactions that attract both users and developers.

Transaction fees, though minimal for users, add up significantly: a share supports the Optimism collective, while Coinbase reaps value from sequencer revenues and ecosystem fees.

X sentiment reflects this developer magnetism: "Aerodrome dominance of @base is back on the rise... DEX trading on @coinbase brings new users."

Projects like Moonwell (for lending) and Morpho (for optimized leverage) are integrating deeply, while AI-crypto crossovers like Perplexity's real-time insights layer on advanced utility.

The outcome is a robust flywheel: devs build innovative dApps, users transact at scale, and fees recirculate to Coinbase backed by metrics like the $219 billion in USDC trading volume in April 2025, a number that's continued to grow.

Recent Developments and the Path to Dominance

In 2025, Coinbase has doubled down. The State of Crypto Summit in June focused on global payments, with Base at the center.

Integrations like AERO DEX trading mean builders may not even need traditional listings tokens can go viral directly in the app.

Onchain Summer initiatives and assets like wrapped BTC, XRP, and DOGE on Base bring legacy holders into the fold, expanding the ecosystem.

Community driven projects, from memes like $ALPHA to utility tokens in AI and RWAs, are thriving.

As one analyst on X put it, "The competition for new token launches is fierce, but... Who can possibly compete with this?" Base's TVL and market cap for ecosystem coins continue to climb, with top categories like DeFi and memes leading the charge.

Implications for the Crypto Ecosystem

This flywheel isn't without its risks centralization concerns persist, given Base's close ties to Coinbase, which could concentrate power in a single entity. However, Base is actively pursuing a more decentralized path, increasingly independent of Coinbase. In April 2025, it achieved "Stage 1" decentralization status under Vitalik Buterin's rollup model, introducing a security council for network upgrades and reducing reliance on centralized operators.

Stiff competition from high performers like Solana or other L2s (e.g., Arbitrum or Polygon) also remains a threat. Yet, Coinbase's playbook cleverly positions Base as the "foundation for everything," with the potential to onboard the next billion users through accessible, low-cost onchain tools.

For teams, building on Base means tapping into Coinbase's massive distribution machine, unlocking visibility and liquidity that's hard to match. For investors, it's a calculated bet on sustained growth in a maturing ecosystem.

As we hit mid-2025, the flywheel is spinning faster than ever. Initiatives like the Base App's "Web3 WeChat" narrative blending social features, payments, and mini-apps into a seamless experience and growing institutional backing are set to propel Base toward dominating L2 adoption.

Coinbase isn't just participating in crypto it's actively shaping its future, one strategic listing and transaction at a time. Worth checking the performance of $COIN on the NASDAQ; it still feels undervalued in my book, given Base's momentum.