Base Will Likely Have a Token: Why Now, Who Wins, and How Big It Gets - Ep. 904
🎯 Summary
[{“key_takeaways”=>[“Base officially announced they are exploring a native token, signaling a major strategic pivot to fuel future growth.”, “The announcement is expected to immediately renew interest and activity on the Base network, attracting more builders and users.”, “The launch timing is likely dependent on US regulatory clarity, particularly concerning legislation like the Clarity Act, to ensure compliance.”, “Token allocation is speculated to heavily favor Coinbase (20-40%), an independent treasury, and the broader community, potentially involving a spin-out structure similar to other major crypto projects.”, “The optimal launch method might involve a combination of builder incentives, a consumer-facing points campaign via the Base App/TDA, and a large public sale/ICO facilitated through Coinbase.”, “A major challenge will be effectively filtering out sybil attackers during any airdrop distribution to ensure genuine decentralization.”, “Potential utility for the Base token could include a mechanism for burning sequencer revenue, similar to ETH’s fee structure, and offering exclusive perks similar to those currently associated with holding USDC on Base.”], “overview”=>”Coinbase’s Base L2 is officially exploring the launch of a native token, a significant shift from their previous stance that shocked the crypto community. This move is seen as a necessary step to supercharge Base’s next phase of growth and capture mindshare, though it raises complex regulatory and structural questions for the publicly traded Coinbase.”, “themes”=>[“Base Token Exploration and Strategy”, “Regulatory Compliance and Entity Structuring (Coinbase/Base Relationship)”, “Token Launch Mechanics (Airdrops, ICOs, and Sybil Resistance)”, “Potential Token Utility and Valuation Drivers”, “Alignment with the Ethereum Ecosystem”]}]
🏢 Companies Mentioned
đź’¬ Key Insights
"I think that's a totally reasonable amount except I mean I've been thinking today just how exactly like what a network token even means for them. It's I have to assume that in some ways it's going to benefit from sequencer revenue or other network effects and if that's the case you'd expect them to retain a decent chunk of the token just to have claim to a large amount of the sequencer revenue."
"They definitely want this to be more in the spectrum of, you know, what we would call a traditional utility token, like ETH or these other tokens, like L2 tokens, L1 tokens that are out there."
"I think this is very big move for them [Coinbase], especially from a company like Coinbase, who is centralized and public."
"Jesse Pollock said that Base has to become decentralized. And he also announced that they were exploring a Base token for the first time."
"That does like open up questions of do Coinbase shareholders get some kind of claim to it? Because there is, I believe, revenue numbers that are shared on the Coinbase balance sheet based off of the base sequencer."
"I think that basically gives almost like a baseline on how to value Base token just in terms of like a productive asset."