The Layer2 network Base, under the world's largest compliant cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, is exploring the issuance of a native token, a shift that could reshape the Layer2 competitive landscape and bring new opportunities for early participants.

In mid-September 2025, Base founder Jesse Pollak revealed at the BaseCamp 2025 event that Base is considering launching its own native token. This news immediately sparked widespread discussion in the cryptocurrency community, as it marks a departure from Base's previous commitment of "not issuing tokens."

As a Layer2 solution incubated by Coinbase and built on the Optimism OP Stack, Base has quickly grown into a leader among L2 networks since its mainnet launch in August 2023, known for its low cost and high efficiency, with total locked value (TVL) reaching billions of dollars and daily active addresses exceeding one million.

01 Strategic Significance of Base Token Issuance

The Base team stated that any token-related decisions will be based on decentralized principles and the alignment of interests among developers, creators, and network participants. They emphasized that "Base is a bridge, not an island."

Issuing a native token will help Base accelerate its decentralization process and provide more opportunities for developers and creators within the ecosystem. Currently, core components of Base (such as the sequencer) are still controlled by Coinbase, raising community concerns about centralization risks.

By introducing governance tokens, control of the network can gradually shift to the community, allowing token holders to participate in important decisions, thereby enhancing the sense of belonging and engagement within the community.

02 Changing the Value Capture Model of L2

The design of Base's native token may attempt to replicate the "quote currency flywheel" of ETH and SOL, opening new pathways for value capture of L2 tokens.

For a long time, the value narrative of L1 public chains has been reduced by the market to transaction fees. However, it has been shown that the proportion of transaction fees in value capture is limited and cannot support long-term market capitalization.

The real core is that these public chain tokens play the role of quote currencies in the ecosystem, meaning that most of the value is reflected through the amount of tokens locked and market demand.

Holders of Base's native token can lock their tokens and participate in voting to decide how network fees are distributed, incentivizing liquidity pools that use Base's native token as a quote currency.

03 Impact on Industry Competition Landscape

Base is in direct competition with Solana for social, consumer, and speculative application ecosystems. This sector requires significant investment to maintain developer and user growth, making it one of the most "capital-intensive" areas in the entire cryptocurrency industry.

Token issuance can not only become a new tool for financing and value capture but also attract a wave of speculative capital influx when market liquidity is relatively abundant, providing additional ammunition for the Base ecosystem.

At the same time, Base has also launched a cross-chain bridge that is interoperable with Solana. This means that Base is no longer limited to Ethereum-based users but is now competing with Solana on the same battlefield for funds, users, and developers.

04 Opportunities for Retail Investors

Governance and Staking Tokens

If Base issues a native token, retail investors can participate in network governance and staking. This is similar to the models of other L2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism, where token holders may be able to vote on network upgrades and fund allocations.

Key Ecosystem Tokens

There are already some promising tokens in the Base ecosystem that retail investors may consider focusing on:

Aerodrome Finance (AERO): The largest decentralized exchange on the Base network, offering swap services, liquidity pools, and voting incentives.

Propy (PRO): A blockchain-based real estate platform that allows users to purchase properties anywhere in the world, having processed over $4 billion in real estate sales and transactions.

Degen (DEGEN): A third-layer network built on Base that rewards content creators for publishing high-quality content, integrated with the decentralized social network Farcaster.

Meme Coins and Cultural Tokens

Every blockchain network has a primary meme coin that serves as the mascot for all meme coins on that network.

Brett (BRETT): Known as Pepe's best friend, it is the main meme coin on the Base network.

Normie (NORMIE): A meme coin with the mission of bringing a new million ordinary people into the Base ecosystem, leveraging the narrative that the Base chain is designed for "ordinary people."

Emerging Projects and Infrastructure

New projects are continuously launching on Base, and retail investors can pay attention to emerging areas:

Friend.tech: A decentralized social network that allows users to mint and sell keys from popular accounts.

Arcadia: An AI-driven leveraged mining project that uses AI to run self-compounding DeFi strategies.

Avantis: A perpetual trading protocol that allows users to trade cryptocurrencies with leverage of up to 100 times.

05 Potential Risks and Challenges

The issuance of Base tokens faces regulatory challenges. Given Coinbase's roots in the U.S. and its close relationship with regulators, any move to issue Base tokens will face strict scrutiny.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory bodies have conducted rigorous reviews of token issuances in recent years, raising concerns about whether such assets qualify as securities.

Coinbase itself is also embroiled in legal disputes with regulators over token classification issues, complicating the future development of Base tokens.

Base also needs to balance the value game between Coinbase shareholders and token holders. Shareholders want the network's transaction fees and MEV profits to be reflected in the company's financial reports and stock prices, while token holders expect the network's value to be embedded in Base's native token.

In Conclusion

Nick Tomaino, founder of the crypto venture firm 1confirmation, pointed out that if executed correctly, BASE could immediately become one of the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

The issuance of a native token by Base is not only a launch of an L2 token but also a strategic attempt by Coinbase to find a balance between on-chain economic layout, shareholder value, and token incentives. With the launch of the cross-chain bridge and innovative token economics design, Base is laying the groundwork to become "the hub of the entire on-chain economy."

Please note: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice. Digital asset investment carries high risks; investors should make cautious decisions and bear the risks themselves.

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