Coinbase Layer 2 Base Overtakes Optimism in Daily Active Users as Friend.Tech Hype Soars

A grayed-out "airdrop" icon at the top of the Friend.Tech app suggests the platform will release a token.

AccessTimeIconAug 11, 2023 at 12:30 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 11, 2023 at 2:55 p.m. UTC
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  • Base daily active users hits a record high of 136,000.
  • Activity on Base is tied to Friend.Tech, a social network, rumored to be releasing a token airdrop.
  • About $175 million has been bridged to Base since inception.

Frenzied activity around Friend.Tech, a social network platform built on Coinbase's (COIN) layer 2 blockchain Base, has driven daily active users to a record high of 136,000, according to Dune Analytics.

Following a modest public release on Wednesday that saw just $10 million in fresh inflows during its first day as a live blockchain, Base has now overtaken rival layer 2 blockchain Optimism in terms of daily active users and is not that far from Arbitrum's total of 147,000, according to tokenterminal data.

A total of $175 million in cryptocurrencies has been transferred to Base since its inception, with almost 580,000 transactions recorded on Thursday.

Much of that has been attributed to Friend.Tech, a new social network that allows users to purchase or sell shares tied to popular Twitter figures.

The app is in beta mode and can be accessed only with a valid sign-up code. A grayed-out section at the top of the app suggests the platform will release a token, spurring a flurry of activity as users attempt to farm a potential airdrop by sharing referral codes.

The platform's servers experienced downtime on Thursday following a surge in sign-ups.

Base is an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain that was incubated by Coinbase and built using the Optimism software stack.

Edited by Aoyon Ashraf.

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Oliver Knight

Oliver Knight is a CoinDesk reporter based between London and Lisbon. He does not own any crypto.


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