Coinbase's Leading Blockchain Achieves Unprecedented Daily Transaction Volume, Surpassing Competitors

The surge in activity, as reported by IntoTheBlock, is significantly driven by the emergence of FriendTech, an exclusive platform accessible solely through Base.

 

Data obtained from IntoTheBlock provides an impressive outlook for Base, which is Coinbase's layer 2 blockchain introduced in early August. On a single Thursday, Base recorded a remarkable 1.88 million transactions, surpassing the combined activity of its layer 2 counterparts, Arbitrum and Optimism, which reported 780,000 and 370,000 transactions respectively.

Lucas Outumuro, the head of research at IntoTheBlock, highlighted an intriguing aspect of Base's surge in activity. Contrary to expectations, the main driving force is not decentralized finance (DeFi) applications or non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces. Instead, a significant portion of this surge can be attributed to the introduction of an innovative social application, FriendTech.

FriendTech, an integrated decentralized social networking platform with Base, brands itself as "the marketplace for your friends." Over the past week, the platform has witnessed a surge in user activity, culminating in a record-breaking 529,000 daily transactions. According to data from IntoTheBlock, this surge was partly fueled by users seeking to accumulate points for an upcoming airdrop.

Following FriendTech's introduction in early August, Base experienced a notable surge in activity, setting new records for daily active users. Furthermore, Base achieved an impressive average of 15.88 transactions per second, surpassing both Ethereum and rival layer 2 blockchains like Arbitrum and Optimism in August. Much of this heightened activity was attributed to FriendTech.

It's worth noting that after the initial surge, transactions on FriendTech experienced a significant decline. The figures dropped from their peak of 525,000 in early August to 51,000 by month-end. Similarly, Base's daily transactions also experienced a similar lull during this period.

IntoTheBlock attributes the recent surge in Base's activity to the evolution of Ethereum's layer 2 ecosystems, with participants becoming increasingly specialized in their respective niches. They emphasize that Base has swiftly emerged as the leading second-tier platform in terms of unique addresses and transactions. Much of its success can be attributed to Coinbase's extensive user base, making it an ideal environment for social applications like FriendTech to thrive.

An interesting observation is that the heightened activity on FriendTech did not lead to network congestion and increased fees on the Ethereum network, a contrast to previous scenarios. Some analysts interpret this as a potential sign that the blockchain's efforts to scale, particularly through the development of supplementary "layer-2" networks like Coinbase's new Base, are yielding positive results.