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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.

Base's daily active users soar (Dune)
Base's daily active users soar (Dune)
  • 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.

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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.

Read more: Coinbase Officially Launches Base Blockchain in Milestone for a Public Company

Oliver Knight

Oliver Knight is the co-leader of CoinDesk data tokens and data team. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022 Oliver spent three years as the chief reporter at Coin Rivet. He first started investing in bitcoin in 2013 and spent a period of his career working at a market making firm in the UK. He does not currently have any crypto holdings.

Oliver Knight