Coinbase ‘Base’ Launch with Free NFT Drop

On February 23, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase, celebrated the launch of Base, a layer-2 scaling network for Ethereum developed in partnership with Optimism. To mark this important milestone, Coinbase also released a free open-edition Ethereum NFT called “Base, Introduced,” which can be minted by anyone through the Zora NFT minting platform until the window closes on March 5.

5/ Become a part of Base history

Mint “Base, Introduced” — a commemorative NFT that celebrates the initial launch of Base. 1 per address, freely mintable on @OurZora through Sunday at midnight EST.https://t.co/zOiQilFKgH

— Coinbase (@coinbase) February 23, 2023

The release of the open-edition has resulted in over 376,000 NFTs minted since the announcement, with the NFT smart contract becoming the biggest “gas guzzler” on the Ethereum network. Only allowing 1 NFT per wallet, over $271,000 worth of gas was used in the first three hours after release, indicating the level of interest and excitement generated by the move.

Although the “Base, Introduced” NFT was not launched on the Coinbase NFT marketplace, it could still be found as secondary listings posted by users who minted the NFT through Zora. While the free Base NFT doesn’t promise any future utility or benefits, it has already begun to find traction on secondary markets, with some early-numbered editions or those with so-called “vanity numbers” commanding higher prices. 

Coinbase Developer-Friendly Ethereum L2 Network, Base.

Coinbase’s move deeper into the NFT space comes when its own marketplace has “paused” development to focus on other features. Coinbase’s President and COO, Emilie Choi, recently confirmed that despite the exchange having a “very lean team” working on its marketplace, it is not giving up on its NFT ambitions.

3/ Base will be:

→ The onchain home for @Coinbase
→ An open ecosystem where anyone, anywhere, can build dapps that reach the next 1B+ users
→ A bridge that brings our users onchain and enables them to go anywhere, including L1, other L2s, and ecosystems like Bitcoin & Solana

— Base (@BuildOnBase) February 23, 2023

Base network, created by Coinbase, is an Ethereum L2 solution designed to onboard a billion users into the crypto economy. This network emphasizes security through a combination of fraud-proof rollups, optimistic rollups, and state channels. In addition, the network offers low-cost transactions through sharding and Plasma-like constructions. With its developer-friendly open ecosystem, Base provides an ideal platform for building dapps on-chain.

The network provides easy and secure access to Ethereum L1, other L2s, and other L1 ecosystems like Solana, making it possible for anyone, anywhere, to participate in the cryptoeconomy. By launching Base, Coinbase is taking a significant step towards advancing the growth in the industry and making it more accessible to everyone.

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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.