Base Chain Sees Surge in Gas Usage

Base Chain Reaches New Milestone in Gas Usage

Base chain, the tokenless protocol aimed at building a wide user base, recently reached a significant milestone in gas usage. The uptick in gas per second indicates increased user activity and highlights Base’s ability to handle high-speed microtransactions.

Base’s Increasing Throughput

Base recently reached a new high in terms of throughput, measured by gas used per second. Despite being an L2 network that specializes in inexpensive transactions, this recent increase marks a new level of usage. Both meme tokens and stablecoins play crucial roles in Base’s growth, with applications spanning:

• Centralized markets
• Decentralized exchanges (DEX)
• Lending pools
• Wallet-to-wallet transfers

The introduction of cbBTC, a wrapped asset by Coinbase, is also expected to boost Base’s growth. The new wrapped token, along with cbETH, may become one of the most liquid blue-chip assets on Aerodrome and other native Base DEX platforms.

Achieving Peak Throughput

The throughput metric achieved a peak of 11 Mgas/s, showcasing the network’s capability to handle significant computational loads beyond simple transactions. Unlike basic transfers, L2 chains have different expenses depending on the type of transaction, such as using a DEX router versus simple token transfers.

Base offers diverse activities, including perpetual swaps and DEX trades. The gas per second metric reflects the number of applications being used and the network’s ability to generate economic activity.

Base’s User Metrics and Fees

Base logs between 1.3M to 1.6M active daily users, generating around $80K in fees from basic L2 usage. Unlike many other protocols, Base does not have a native token, nor does it offer regular incentives to its users.

Base incurs costs to secure transactions through the Superchain using the Optimism protocol. It also pays a small fee to secure its state on Ethereum, with rent for using the L1 as low as $1,300. This is due to Base’s schedule of recording its consensus on Ethereum only occasionally.

Complex Apps Driving Base’s Activity

Uniswap is the most widely used DEX on Base, despite peak activity and volumes on its main competitor, Aerodrome. Uniswap also requires complex routing, leading to higher gas fee transactions.

1Inch, the main DEX aggregator, is also highly active on Base. This aggregator requires complex transactions and routing, which contributes to increased gas fees. The Base version of 1Inch performs more than $36M in daily swaps, second only to its main net Ethereum version.

Base handles multiple small-scale transactions, often in the form of USDC micropayments. With 4.79M transactions per day, Base’s activity surpasses Ethereum and Bitcoin by a factor of ten. Base’s activity is also higher than other L2 networks, nearly double that of its closest competitor, Arbitrum.

Continuous Growth Since Launch

Base’s activity has grown consistently since March, when it launched the “on-chain summer” campaign. Unlike other L2 networks, Base does not offer user incentives or hint at potential airdrops. Since March, Base has surpassed Ethereum in daily transaction count.

The only other chains offering a stable baseline of throughput are Arbitrum and Optimism. Linea’s throughput dropped after its airdrop, and Taiko transactions have also fallen to lower levels.

Base Competes with Solana’s Inflows

One of the key elements for Base’s activity is the inflow of Ethereum (ETH) through bridges, along with stablecoins and tokens. Base has drawn in $1.3B in value inflows to liquidity protocols, just below Solana’s inflow of $1.5B. Arbitrum, meanwhile, has increased its inflows to $3B due to higher DeFi activity.

Value bridged to Base is slightly higher, measured at $1.6B according to Dune Analytics. This includes $1.4B in bridged ETH, $37M in bridged USDC, and $7.5M in bridged USDT. Some of these assets may be held in private wallets.

Total Value Locked on Base

Base has experienced rapid growth since March, including its total value locked (TVL). After months of inflows, Base’s TVL reached $2.61B. The majority of this liquidity—around $1B—is locked on Aerodrome, mainly due to high liquidity blue-chip pairs. Aave and Uniswap contribute close to $500M in liquidity, while Moonwell lending has added nearly $200M to its vaults.