Three years after its testnet debut, Base, the Ethereum layer 2 network incubated by Coinbase, is poised for its most significant architectural evolution. The network announced it will transition to a unified, internally maintained software stack, a shift that promises greater autonomy and faster upgrade cycles. This move marks a pivotal moment, coming after a period of explosive, trend-driven growth that saw Base briefly eclipse Ethereum in key metrics and become a laboratory for emerging crypto narratives like SocialFi, memecoins, and on-chain AI agents.
Friend.tech and the Flash-in-the-Pan “Onchain Summer”
Base’s mainnet launched to builders in July 2023, with public access following in August. Coinbase marketed this period as “Onchain Summer.” The hype was immediate: in the first week, Base attracted 700,000 new users and approximately $242 million in inflows, according to on-chain data.
The headline act was Friend.tech, a social application that tokenized access to users’ social connections. It quickly captivated Crypto Twitter, drawing influencers and celebrities. At its peak in mid-August 2023, the platform generated over $1 million in daily protocol fees, momentarily surpassing Bitcoin’s daily fee revenue, data from token terminal analytics showed.
However, the frenzy was short-lived. By the end of August 2023, both transaction volume and fees had plummeted, and many observers declared the app “dead.” The team eventually decentralized control, renouncing admin rights to its smart contracts over a year later, a common practice aimed at fostering trust through immutability.
The Memecoin Wave That Topped Ethereum
While Friend.tech faded, a broader memecoin mania soon took hold, first on Solana and then spreading to Base. This trend, which drew commentary from figures like U.S. politicians and even prompted SEC clarification that such tokens generally fall outside securities laws, provided Base with a new growth vector.
Data from Token Terminal illustrates the surge. From March 19-25, 2024, Cointelegraph analysis identified over 380,000 new ERC-20 tokens deployed on Base. This speculative activity injected fresh liquidity into Base’s DeFi ecosystem. By June 2024, the layer 2 had surpassed Ethereum in daily active addresses—a key metric for user activity—and maintained that lead until December 2025, according to Nansen and DefiLlama aggregates.
The trading volumes on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap on Base briefly challenged those on Solana-native DEXs during this March 2024 peak, demonstrating the network’s ability to capture viral capital flows.
AI Agents and the Quest for On-Chain Autonomy
In late 2024, the crypto narrative shifted toward autonomous AI agents—software programs that can transact and interact on-chain without direct human intervention. Early experiments flourished on Solana, but Base positioned itself as the layer 2 for practical agent utility.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong articulated a core thesis: crypto wallets provide a natural financial rail for AI systems, which lack the legal identity required for traditional bank accounts. In October 2024, Coinbase launched “Based Agents,” a toolkit
