Most folks recognize @Base as Coinbaseโs L2 gem, but itโs also a go to hub where DeFi dreams come alive, talk swapping, lending, and farming yields with seamless access .
Continuing from my last episode on Base. Weโre digging deep into the DeFi ecosystem: talk top dApps anyone can interact with in the base ecosystem.
Base is processing over 13M daily transactions now rivaling the biggest L2s like Arbitrum transactions now. Whether youโre a newbie testing waters or a trader chasing APYs, letโs get you earning, stay locked in.
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Base's DeFi scene is stacked with audited protocols that make farming accessible and here are a few of them :
โ @AerodromeFi : Think of this as a friendly marketplace where you can trade tokens or pool your money to earn rewards, kind of like a community-run swap shop. It mixes the best of Uniswapโs easy trading with Curveโs smooth stablecoin swaps. Itโs captured over 35% of Base's TVL with pools offering juicy incentives. Right now, Slipstream pools are dishing out up to 200-300% APR for USDC-AERO pairs (reflecting recent AERO emissions + fees [https://t.co/lH8Z0kXmu2).
Stable pools like WETH-USDC hover at 14-20% APY, perfect for low vol plays. Vote lock your AERO via NFTs to steer emissions and catch extra rewards.
โ @avantisfi : Picture this as a lending buddy that lets you lend out your crypto or borrow with a boost, like getting a loan with extra perks. Itโs designed for leveraged plays and backed by big names like Pantera and Galaxy.
Supply USDC or ETH collateral (like stETH or cbBTC) and earn about 7.5-7.8% APY on borrows. You can also choose between low risk options for 5-6% APY or higher-risk ones for 10%+ upside. Plus, zero-fee perps up to (10-50x common) on crypto and RWAs like gold.
โ @Uniswap on Base: Like Uniswap on BSC, this is a classic online marketplace where you can swap tokens easily, but on Base. Itโs the original DEX fork, handling billions in volume. It's your entry point for simple swaps, with V3 pools yielding 5-15% APY on stables. Low competition means better fills.
โ @trylimitless See this as a platform where you can bet on real-world outcomes, like elections or trends, using a prediction market. It offers liquidation-free trades on Base, with tight spreads via an order book and USDC rewards for liquidity providers, up to 30% APR on active markets.
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Base DeFi is where yields meet reality:
โ Aerodrome for LP alpha,
โ Avantis for lending stability,
โ Uniswap for quick flips,
all with low gas feesโฆ
With 13M txns/day itโs thriving, drawing in more users and builders to the ecosystem every day. APRs can shift with market moves, so check live data for the latest.
Next drop heads to NFTs and social, Zora mints and Farcaster ... So, whatโs your fave Base dApp so far? Tag it below!
Thnx for reading bros
๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐2, ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ง-๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ง
@Base is running the Ethereum L2 game right now, pulling numbers that make even the biggest degens raise an eyebrow:
โข 20M plus monthly active wallets,
โข $5B+ in total value locked (TVL),
โข with very low transaction fees.
This is my first drop on the deep dive series into Base, and starting with the basics: what Base is, and why itโs the L2 you canโt ignore in 2025.
Whether youโre a crypto newbie, a builder or a degen farming yields, this series is for you. Letโs roll, bros.
๐๐๐ฌ๐?
Base is @Coinbase answer to Ethereumโs biggest problem: expensive and slow for regular people. Built as a Layer 2 chain on Ethereum using the OP Stack, same tech as Optimism.
Base processes transactions off the main Ethereum chain, slashing fees and speeding things up while keeping ETHโs security. Think of it as Ethereumโs sidekick, handling the grunt work so you can swap, trade, or mint for lower fees.
@Coinbase, with its 100M plus users, launched Base to make crypto usable for the masses. You can onboard straight from any Wallet, send ETH to Base in minutes, and start playing with DeFi or NFTs for pennies. Itโs Ethereum, but better, faster, cheaper, and still decentralized. Base is part of the โSuperchainโ vision, linking L2s like Optimism for seamless cross-chain moves.
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Base didnโt just pop off overnight. Coinbase dropped it in August 2023, built on Optimismโs open-source OP Stack to scale Ethereum without the baggage. Back then, L2s like Arbitrum were already hot, but Base had Coinbaseโs backing, think instant access to millions of users via their exchange and wallet.
By early 2024, Base hit 1M daily active users (DAUs), per Dune Analytics, and itโs now clocking 20M monthly active wallets.
๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐๐?
Coinbase on-ramps made it dead simple to jump in. Plus, Base leaned into community vibesโthink hackathons, Discord guilds with 10K+ builders, and integrations with Web3 social apps like Farcaster. BaseCamp 2025 doubled down on this, pushing Base as a hub for developers and creators. No wonder itโs pulling 2 million+ transactions a day, rivaling the biggest L2s out there.
Just like @SamuelXeus would say - numbers donโt lie.
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Letโs talk numbers. Base has $5B plus in TVL, per DefiLlama, putting it neck-and-neck with Arbitrum.
Transaction fees? cheaper than Ethereum mainnetโs gas spikes. Thatโs why degens are farming yields and minting NFTs without crying over costs.
Base processes over 2M txs daily, and its ecosystem is exploding:
โข DeFi with Aerodrome,
โข NFTs on Zora,
โข social apps like Farcaster where 1M plus users are posting Web3-native content.
๐๐ก๐ฒโ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ญ?
Users flow into Base via Wallet or direct on-ramps with lower fees, Compare that to mainnet, where a $100 swap can cost $30 in gas. Base makes Ethereum usable for regular folksโswap, mint an NFT for very low fees, or join a DAO without breaking the bank.
And itโs not just retail, developers are building like crazy, from prediction markets @trylimitless to social platforms like @townsapp
Base is where Web3โs future is taking shape.
๐๐๐ฆ๐จ: ๐๐๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ง 2 ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ฌ
โ Download Bitget / Rabby Wallet
โ Go to https://t.co/GatSbB9kME,
โ connect your wallet,
โ send ETH from Ethereum mainnet to Base.
Takes 2mins and costs ~$1 in fees.
Now youโre on Base, ready to swap on Uniswap or mint on Zora for pennies.
โ Pro tip: Check your tx on https://t.co/wCcATYsh7m to confirm it went through.
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Base Batches 001 kicking off projects that are already making waves, and the Superchain linking L2s with OP Stack for a bigger future.
Itโs opening doors for everyone. My series keeps you in the loop.
Next drop digs into pure DeFi, think Aerodrome pools and Uniswap swaps.
Stay tuned and keep building ๐ต
Everyone's calling @symbioticfi' Liquid Lane a faster-exit tool.
In my opinion it's bigger than that as it puts a live price on RWA risk for the first time.
Take tokenized credit funds, a $5.5B slice of a $42B market and the worst offender, most lock your money behind 60-180D exits and you can't see what that exit really costs until you're stuck in it.
Liquid Lane auctions the exit.
Market makers compete to quote your redemption on the spot, so a credit fund's real risk shows up as a number you can read. Here's where it goes๐
Once exits are priced live, the assets that are genuinely liquid get cheaper to hold and the ones that aren't get exposed. Capital flows to what can prove it.
This is how RWAs stop being onchain wrappers and start being real collateral.
h/t to @tokenterminal for the data
Prediction markets snapshot.
Most of CT still talks about @Polymarket like it owns the category.
The data says otherwise.
โ
First, the metric.
โ Taker volume measures trades where someone hit an existing order on the book instead of posting their own.
Think of a fish market. The maker is the seller with fish laid out at marked prices. The taker walks up and says "I'll take it." Taker volume only counts the buyer's side.
Why it matters: makers can post and cancel orders all day without anything trading. Taker volume strips that out. It's the closest read on real money actually changing hands.
โ Notional volume is the other number you'll see, but it counts contracts, not dollars. One contract โ one dollar, so notional inflates the picture.
โ
Cumulative taker volume to date:
โข @Kalshi: $33.3b
โข Polymarket: $17.8b + $1.4b Poly US = $19.1b combined
โข @opinionlabsxyz: $12.1b
โข @predictdotfun: $1.65b
โข @limitlessdefi: $1.26b
Kalshi is now ~1.75x Polymarket (including Poly US) on the metric that matters most. Without Poly US, it's closer to 1.9x.
Recent daily taker volume across all venues runs $200โ400m, with Kalshi consistently the largest slice, Polymarket second, Opinion a distant third.
โ
What drove the flip? Sports.
Weekly sports notional crossed $3b in early 2026 and Kalshi captures the majority of it. Sports is the most consistent volume segment in any betting market globally. As the regulated US venue, Kalshi won that flow by default.
โ
So, where does Polymarket actually still win? Breadth.
โข 2.68m lifetime users, the largest tracked user base in the category
โข Transactions roughly tied with Kalshi cumulatively (~500m each)
โข Open interest spread across more categories: economy, world, crypto, celebrities, earnings
(Open interest = total dollar value of positions still open. Wider distribution across categories means more diverse betting activity, not just sports.)
Average trade size tells the story: Kalshi does roughly 2x Polymarket's taker volume on a similar transaction count. Bigger tickets per trade. Polymarket's strength is frequency and breadth of users.
Source: @datadashboards