Coinbase Sets Public Launch of ‘Base’ Layer 2 Blockchain for Next Week
Coinbase, the biggest publicly-traded U.S. crypto exchange, announced that Base, its layer-2 blockchain built with Optimism’s OP Stack, will open to the public on Aug. 9.
Base went live for developers in July so they could test applications on the new network. Starting Thursday, users will be able to bridge their ether (ETH) to Base, Coinbase wrote in a blog post.
The announcement comes as Coinbase is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings, and kicked off “Onchain Summer,” a series of events in which creators and developers can make art or build applications on Base. Companies participating include beverage giant Coca-Cola, gaming powerhouse Atari and non-fungible token platform OpenSea.
Like Coinbase, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has also made use of the OP Stack and will come out with its own layer 2 rollup, called Magi.
“Since we announced Base, our mission has been clear and consistent: bring the next billion users and next million builders on chain,” Jesse Pollak, the creator of Base and head of protocols at Coinbase, said in a press release sent to CoinDesk. “Today, we’re thrilled to announce our next step in that journey.”
