Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, Base, has experienced a significant increase in its total value locked (TVL) by more than 13.2% in the past week, surpassing $4 billion for the first time. According to data from L2BEAT, as of April 7, Base’s total TVL stands at $4.15 billion, with $1.45 billion of assets bridged from Ethereum and $2.7 billion in natively minted assets.
Base currently holds the third position among Ethereum layer 2 platforms in terms of TVL, surpassing its rival Blast by approximately $1.4 billion. However, it still lags behind Optimism, which holds the second position with $3.5 billion, and the leader, Arbitrum, with $14.6 billion.
Base is the only layer 2 platform among the top 5 by TVL that has experienced a gain in the past week. Other platforms, such as Starknet, Optimism, Arbitrum, and Blast, have all seen a decrease in TVL, with Starknet experiencing the biggest loss at 10.2%.
The surge in Base’s TVL coincides with a surge in activity, as its 30-day transaction count has surpassed both Arbitrum and Ethereum. Base’s average daily transactions per second (TPS) have also increased by 29.7% over the week, surpassing the combined TPS of Arbitrum and Ethereum.
In addition to its success in TVL and transaction count, Base has also benefited from the recent popularity of meme coins. The market capitalization of Base’s meme token has jumped by over 13% in the past day, reaching over $1.6 billion.
However, with its increasing popularity, Base has also attracted scammers, leading to an 18-fold increase in successful phishing scams from January to March, resulting in a loss of $3.35 million last month.
While Ethereum has been focusing on improving its layer-2 transaction processing capabilities, platforms like Base could further benefit from Ethereum’s shortcomings. Analysts from VanEck estimate that the network’s scaling ecosystem could reach a market capitalization of $1 trillion by 2030.
In conclusion, measuring blockchain transactions per second (TPS) remains a relevant metric, and platforms like Base are experiencing significant growth in TVL and transaction count, positioning themselves as potential leaders in the Ethereum layer 2 ecosystem.