oinbase">Coinbase’s new Ethereum layer-2 network Base has attracted significant activity from speculative traders chasing quick profits on meme coins, echoing the sentiment “if you build it, they will come” expressed in the film Field of Dreams. Since Base’s launch on July 13th, obscure tokens such as BALD, COIN, and BASED have seen trading volume surge on the decentralized exchange LeetSwap, as opportunistic investors flock to the network in search of the next lucrative meme coin.
The decentralized exchange LeetSwap on oinbase">Coinbase’s Base layer-2 network has seen nearly $200 million in trading volume over the past day, across 377,000 transactions. LeetSwap and RocketSwap are currently the only DEXs operating on Base without financial intermediaries.
Over half of LeetSwap’s daily volume came from trading of the BALD token, likely referencing oinbase">Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. BALD has surged almost 3,100% to $0.06718 in the last day.
The BASED token also climbed over 1,000,000% to $0.02916, reaching a market capitalization of $291 million despite being less than a day old.
Other new tokens like COIN have seen similarly astronomical gains, rising 15,400% to $0.17 on $1.1 million volume in 24 hours. Speculative trading is driving significant activity on Base’s nascent DEX ecosystem.
oinbase">Coinbase’s Base layer-2 network is still in pre-launch and not publicly accessible until August. There is currently no official bridge from the Ethereum mainnet to the Base. However, developers can use a Portal Proxy Contract to bridge Ethereum over.
On Sunday, $54 million worth of Ethereum was bridged to Base via this method, up from less than $750,000 the previous day. Withdrawing tokens from Base before public launch is more complex than bridging Ethereum in, and requires following oinbase">Coinbase’s developer instructions on GitHub.
Base was built by oinbase">Coinbase in partnership with Optimism, an Ethereum scaling solution utilizing Optimistic Rollups to batch transactions and reduce fees. The network aims to attract developer activity before fully opening to the public.
Decentralized exchanges like LeetSwap often enable meme coin mania since anyone can create tokens and listing standards are loose. This “Wild West” environment lets speculation run rampant.
Influential crypto figure Lady of Crypto commented on Twitter that traders were gambling with Ethereum by buying meme coins on Base. Though participating herself, she warned followers to be vigilant against scams and only risk money they can afford to lose.
While profitable meme coin speculation occurs on DEXs, the lack of oversight also exposes traders to high risks of fraud and loss from investing in unvetted tokens. Caution is warranted in joining frenzies on unregulated exchanges.
