Welcome, the Base name.

Base, a layer 2 scaling solution built on Ethereum is not simply in the business of reducing gas fees, but more so in creating a thriving network of builders on-chain. This community centric approach is what has made Base the fastest growing L2 solution built on Ethereum despite being just over a year old. And with the way things are going, it’s hard to see this energy slowing down anytime soon.

Pivotal to Base’s surge is the “base name”. Think about your username on Twitter or Facebook, but instead for interacting on the blockchain. On social media platforms, usernames allow anyone to identify you on the space, tag you on relevant posts & comments, and give you the power to express yourself with whatever name you choose. Take awhile to muse on the numerous benefits of usernames — Online business branding, personal branding, the credibility it gives corporate entities or just a fun tag to give yourself — No matter what it is, you can’t imagine using social media without a username. It’s a feature that we often take for granted and doesn’t get its flowers enough.

The seamless experience of social media is what inspired the Base team, led by Jesse Pollak to introduce its own version as a simple on-chain identifier — a base name. An intuitive and custom name that “makes" alphanumeric characters of your blockchain wallets human-readable and relatable; as a result of it being linked to your crypto wallet address. It not only replaces your address, but also makes it easier to connect with builders on Base; exchanging the abstract feel of a hexadecimal string with the personality of a someone’s name or pseudonym. What a subtle, yet brilliant idea it was and ever since base names have fueled everything done via the Base network.

In the words of the Base Head of Product, Thomas Vieira at Coinbase’s BaseCamp Summit,

“Our vision for Base Names is that it is the connective tissue that will enable builders to connect with other builders, builders to more closely connect with the people.”

Bold and daring. With Base, on-chain is the new online!

Now you know its immense benefits, how do you get a base name and start cracking? That’s why we’re here and I’ve got you covered.

Here we go…

First and foremost, navigate to base.org/names on your browser. You’ll with meet its immersive landing page as shown below.

Next, click on Connect (or Connect Wallet) located on the top right-hand corner of the page. This displays a popup menu that allows you to summon your Coinbase, MetaMask or any other crypto wallet and establish a connection.

After a successful connection, you’ll be redirected to the landing page. The most obvious thing staring at you is a long search bar waiting for you to type ;). Type in your desired name and when it has been confirmed as available, go ahead and purchase it for a small fee.

The base name pricing is so flexible and straightforward. And that’s one of the best things about Base. If you were a 5 year old, the best way to explain the pricing will be; the longer your base name, the cheaper the fee.

Period. It’s that simple.

Just make sure your wallet is funded with sufficient ETH and is switched to the Base Mainnet.

Here’s a thorough breakdown of the price categories in Ethereum (ETH), US Dollar (USD) & Nigerian Naira ( NGN).

Confirm your desired base name and its validity period — 1, 2 , 3 years or more (the price is multiplied with the validity period to compute the final fee)

Here’s a short clip!

How to Get Your Base Name

Remember that the above name is just for demonstration. Use any other name that makes sense for yourself or organization.

https://vimeo.com/

When you’ve confirmed the right choice and price, click Make Payment.

Done with all that? Congratulations! You’re now a proud owner of a basename. And it’s such a big flex!

Go ahead to post on X (formerly Twitter), Farcaster or your favourite social media platform.

That’s base-some!

In conclusion…

Handling your actual wallet address proves to be a lot tricky and great care has to be taken to make sure that 1 out of 40 alphanumeric characters isn’t erroneous or even left out. Else, a crypto transaction ends up in the wrong wallet. And that’s so not “Based" .

On Base your wallet address is already linked to your basename — that’s all you need for a crypto transaction on-chain. No more fuss about cross-checking your wallet address for any errors; the panic is gone.

Welcome to a new dispensation. Welcome, the Basename!

Stay Based and Build on Base!

See you later

P.S.- Banner picture from Base’s Opengraph