Base shifts towards a trading hub, the on-chain economic entry point competition begins

Base co-founder Jesse Pollak recently stated that the Base App is adjusting its positioning to “Trade First,” with the goal of becoming the preferred application for user participation in on-chain economics. This is not simply a feature optimization but a strategic upgrade of the Base ecosystem—shifting from a general-purpose L2 to a trading gateway.

The Logic Behind the Strategic Adjustment

Why Choose Trade First

This repositioning by Base reflects the reality of on-chain economic development. Currently, trading has become the most frequent and core scenario within on-chain activities. Whether it’s asset exchanges, derivatives trading, or cross-chain liquidity acquisition, trading demands run throughout the entire on-chain economy.

Jesse Pollak emphasized that the Base App should not only support single trading functions but also cover “a broader range of asset types.” This means expanding from simple token trading to include NFTs, RWA (Real-World Asset Tokenization), derivatives, and other multi-dimensional asset trading needs. Users can complete trades, utilize assets, and participate in other on-chain activities within the Base App, forming a complete economic cycle.

Ecosystem Applications Are Already Validating This Direction

Interestingly, applications within the Base ecosystem are already validating the correctness of this strategy. According to the latest news, the attention market platform Noise completed a $7.1 million seed round led by Paradigm, with plans to launch its mainnet on Base soon. This platform allows users to go long or short on trends, combining real-time social data to measure cultural relevance—essentially, still trading.

Another more direct example is Genius Trading, which has received tens of millions of dollars in investment (over $10 million), with CZ serving as an advisor. Genius Trading is building a privacy-centric decentralized trading platform supporting spot, perpetual contracts, and copy trading, with a clear goal of positioning itself as “an on-chain alternative to Binance.” Notably, Base is listed among the supported chains for Genius Trading.

The emergence of these applications is no coincidence but a true reflection of market demand for on-chain trading. The strategic adjustment of the Base App is a natural response to this.

Market Opportunities and Competitive Landscape

The Value of On-Chain Trading Gateways

In the Web3 era, whoever controls the high-frequency entry points for users controls the ecosystem’s traffic. In traditional internet, search engines and social platforms are valued the highest because they are the daily entry points for users.

If the Base App can become the preferred on-chain trading application, its value will go beyond just an L2—it will become the gateway to the entire on-chain economy. This means:

• Habit Formation: Every trade starts from the Base App, cultivating usage habits
• Data Accumulation: Gaining key insights into user trading behavior, preferences, and asset allocation
• Ecosystem Lock-in: The larger the trading volume, the richer the ecosystem applications, making it harder for users to leave

Differences from Other Platforms

The competition for on-chain trading gateways is quite fierce. In the Solana ecosystem, platforms like Magic Eden are prominent; in the Ethereum ecosystem, DEXs like Uniswap dominate; and Coinbase, as the parent company of Base, already has a strong traditional financial user base.

Base’s advantages include:

• Backing by Coinbase: Brand trust and a large user base
• Ecosystem Activity: Existing DeFi applications like Aerodrome, innovative trading apps like Noise, etc.
• Cost Advantage: As an L2, transaction costs are far lower than on the Ethereum mainnet
• Multi-Asset Support: Covering tokens, NFTs, RWA, and more

Future Development Directions

Further Enrichment of Ecosystem Applications

As Base App’s positioning becomes clearer, it is expected to attract more trading-focused applications built on Base. From options to perpetual contracts, spot trading to derivatives, the completeness of the trading ecosystem will directly impact the competitiveness of the Base App.

Collaboration with Coinbase

Coinbase itself has millions of retail users. If these users can be guided to trade on the Base App, it will generate significant synergy. This could be the most imaginative part of Base App’s strategic adjustment.

Formation of Scale Effects

Based on support from platforms like Gate Alpha, Base has already become an important public chain that users pay attention to. Once trading volume reaches a certain scale, more liquidity providers will deploy funds on Base, further reducing trading slippage and creating a positive feedback loop.

Summary

The shift of Base from a general-purpose L2 to a trade-first platform reflects an inevitable choice as on-chain economic development enters a new stage. Applications like Noise and Genius Trading are already validating this direction, and market demand for on-chain trading gateways is real.

This strategic upgrade of the Base App is fundamentally about competing for the “entry rights” to the on-chain economy. If successfully executed, Base could become the users’ first choice for participating in on-chain economic activities—an outcome that holds significant implications for its ecosystem development and Coinbase’s overall strategy. In the coming months, observing the actual implementation of Base App and the response of the ecosystem applications will be key indicators of whether this strategy succeeds.