Base-related NFTs drove users to Coinbase and Optimism

Last month, Coinbase did a testnet launch of Base, a Ethereum layer 2 network built using Optimism’s open-source developer toolkit OP Stack. For Coinbase, known for its cryptocurrency trading and investing platform, the new chain has the potential to attract millions of new users in the coming months.

MetricsDAO analyst Ali3N analyzed how the launch of Base impacted on-chain activity on Optimism and its native token, while analyst Hessish studied the  Base-realted NFTs - such as “Base, Introduced” - that were launched on the same day.

Here are the major takeaways:

• Metrics for Optimism transactions and daily users, which had declined after Galxe Quests got over, increased significantly after the announcement, as did the price of the chain’s native “OP” token.

• The launch of the “Meet Base” NFT led to a spike in trading activity on the chain. This surge lasted for a few days before trailing off.

• The free “Base, Introduced” NFT was available to anyone with a limit of one NFT per wallet, until the minting window ended. Within a day, more than 24,000 of the Ethereum NFT had been minted. As a result of this popularity, the NFT’s smart contract became the largest “gas guzzler” on the Ethereum network, while Optimism gas price wasn’t impacted as much, showing the cost benefits of Optimism.

• The “BASEd and Optimistic” NFT, a free to mint NFT for subscribers of Base's Mirror newsletter, saw increasing secondary trades in the days that followed. However, Base, Introduced is 10 times more popular in wallet sales and 33 times more expensive compared with BASEd and Optimistic.

Final takeaway:

Most of the Base related NFT minters said they were excited about Base, and they minted both “BASEd and Optimistic” and “Base, Introduced” collections, apart from using Base testnet, according to Hessish’s analysis. Each wallet in this group did an average of three transactions on Base.

Coinbase’s launch of NFT collections to coincide with the testnet launch of Base chain is a good example of using NFTs to promote a new product, and gain users who are excited and eager to use the new chain. This also led to huge interest in the Base Ecosystem Fund, a pool of capital to invest in early stage (pre-seed to seed) projects building on Base.

Coinbase would be hoping for a similar response for its recent call for developers to build DeFi apps on Base, for which they will receive a grant from the Fund and strategic assistance from Coinbase. Work on these areas will be critical to help the on-chain economy grow.