At their Base Camp event on September 15th, Base made a public announcement about looking into creating its own network token. This is a potentially significant step for Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 solution, as they aim for widespread international adoption.
Jesse Pollak, a founder of Base, revealed this plan during his presentation. He highlighted the network’s goal to grow from supporting tens of millions to billions of users worldwide.
Pollak framed this token exploration around three key ideas: achieving total decentralization, bringing builders and creators into the economic loop as participants, and stretching the boundaries of crypto to unlock innovative systems.
He commented:
“The financial structure is only effective if we’re the ones shaping its direction and benefiting from its potential.”
He also clarified the reasoning behind connecting creators and developers through the use of tokens.
Currently, Base functions as a stage one rollup, featuring a decentralized system for fraud or proof submission and a security oversight group.
However, full decentralization hasn’t yet been reached, requiring more effort to move into stage two. The possible token could be the mechanism to speed up this process, encouraging more involvement in the ecosystem at the same time.
Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, affirmed the information via X, noting the token “could significantly contribute to accelerating decentralization and fostering growth for creators and developers within the ecosystem.”
Armstrong stressed that concrete plans are still absent, calling the announcement a philosophical update as the team investigates different possibilities.
Three Core Promises
Pollak outlined three specific commitments regarding the potential token. First, Base remains dedicated to building on Ethereum, dismissing any speculation about looking to other blockchain foundations.
Second, the team is committed to “doing things correctly” by working together with regulators and lawmakers, drawing upon Coinbase’s 15-year history of regulatory adherence.
Finally, Base is committed to transparent progress, building “in the open” by engaging with the community and listening to feedback.
This announcement comes after Base’s decision to value transparency over secret development. Pollak mentioned that he received counsel to keep the exploration private, but chose the “Base way” of open development without predetermined answers.
Base intends to collect community feedback during the two-day Base Camp event to guide token development in line with the network’s values.
Pollak portrayed the announcement as “a new beginning” opportunity to utilize tokenization for creating a global financial landscape.
This initial exploration period begins without definite timelines or specific implementation details, because Base will prioritize seeking community insights and fulfilling regulatory obligations before advancing token development.