In the crypto space, you have to always be on the lookout for where the money is flowing.

Because, if we no make money, wetin we gain?

Recently, a lot of money has been flowing into the Base ecosystem. 

In this post, I will tell you:

• what makes Base stand out
• where the money is flowing from, and
• how to position yourself to make the most of it

Let’s get started.

What is Base? – An Overview

Base is an Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution built by Coinbase using the Optimism Op stack.

The TVL, i.e., the amount of money locked in the protocol, is 1.23 billion USD.

This puts Base at #3 amongst Layer 2s  in terms of TVL, coming behind Arbitrum and Blast. 

This chart on DefiLama shows that the money flowing into Base is steadily increasing. 

Why is this? 

Read further to find out where the funds are flowing in from.

Base Funds – Where Is It Flowing In From?

The answer is Coinbase, Bitcoin ETF and BlackRock.  

I will begin with Coinbase.

Coinbase is the largest and most regulated exchange in the US.

It has about 100 million active users.

63% of centralized exchange users in the US use Coinbase.

When it created Base, its vision was to onboard a billion users to Web3 through Base. 

When Bitcoin EFT was approved, 8 of the 11 approved Bitcoin ETFs, including iShares Bitcoin Trust EFT by BlackRock, used Coinbase as their custodian exchange. 

In other words, BlackRock and 7 other Bitcoin EFT providers gave Coinbase the actual Bitcoin representing the ETF to hold for them.

Bitcoin ETF was approved when the price of Bitcoin was around 40K.

Bitcoin’s price is now around 70K – a 75% increase. This kind of increase is rarely seen in traditional finance. 

Look at it this way: Bitcoin ETF brings a new breed of investors to crypto.

Once they experience Bitcoin’s performance relative to their other assets, they want more exposure and use Coinbase.

When they want even more exposure provided by Web3, they will use Base. 

Base also has one of the cheapest fees amongst L2s after the EIP-4844 upgrade.

Fees on Base are now less than one cent, cheaper than transactions on Solana. 

This table shows how much layers 2s cost now. Base comes under Optimism 

Another reason why more money will flow into Base is BlackRock. 

BlackRock manages over 9 trillion dollars of assets.

It recently launched a new tokenized fund called BUIDL.

For this, it partnered with several key digital asset players, trading banking players, and crypto giants, including Coinbase.

If BlackRock tokenizes just 10% of its assets under management, that is over 1 trillion dollars.

And it will most likely do this on base. 

To cut this long story short: 

• Coinbase is the No.1 exchange in the US and custodian for 8 out of 11 BTC ETFs, including BlackRock’s.
• Coinbase’s chain is cheaper to transact than almost any other layer and has a self-custodial wallet. The chain is centralized, so any errors can potentially be reversed.
• Coinbase is a shareholder of Circle and the issuer of USDC, one of the most widely used and regulated stablecoins.
• We might expect some big partnerships and announcements related to Coinbase x Blackrock – these will likely involve Coinbase’s L2 Base.

So, how do we take advantage of all these?

How can you be positioned to make the most out of the funds flowing into Base? 

Read about that below.

How to Take Advantage of Base Funds: 7 Coins to Buy

Unfortunately, Base does not have a token, and the Team has confirmed that they are not launching any token. 

Coinbase, however, has a stock called COIN.

If you trade the stock market, that is one way to get exposure.

But if you are strictly a crypto person, there are 7 coins that you can buy to gain exposure to the value coming to Base.

They include: 

So, guys, these are my picks.

Note that this is not financial advice.

Let me know in the comment box which coin you think will perform best in the Base ecosystem.