Base is an Ethereum layer2 launched by Coinbase built on the Optimism infrastructure (it is an Optimistic Rollup, as is Arbitrum). It will be secure, fast and scalable. Despite being a centralized exchange, Coinbase has decided to launch a chain relying on Ethereum and Optimism (unlike Binance and Crypto.com which have launched EVM but native chains, i.e. BNB Chain and Cronos Chain). Initially the protocol will be centralized but then hopefully it can become decentralized. The idea is to provide an open source onchain infrastructure for Coinbase: all the various dapps (including the NFT market, Web3, DeFi, etc).
There are already many dapps that will migrate to Base and will be supported by them: the oracle Chainlink, Aave, Messari, Infura, Etherscan, The Graph, Balancer, LayerZero, Magic Eden, Dune Analytics, Nansen, Sushiswap, Hop Protocol, etc
A very interesting thing is that Base will also have a bridging function to bring liquidity from the Bitcoin/Solana/Cosmos world to the EVM world (Ethereum/Polygon/BNB Chain, Cronos Chain/Fantom/Avalanche, etc). Furthermore, the Optimism OP Stack will be used to create an interoperable and modular chain (which will be possible to connect to other layer 1 and layer 2). The OP Stack is the standardized, shared and open-source development stack.
Base token gas will be ETH so there will be no native token. All gas fees paid will be forfeited. To keep things simple, this ecosystem will look like Cosmos Hub. All these Base layer2 will be able to communicate with them. This layer 2 will also have a fund to finance all projects coming to Base.
What are the key concepts?
-Build a scalable and interoperable layer2 (a superchain)
-Take advantage of the security of the Ethereum network and its validators
-EP-4844 on the Ethereum network will reduce the gas fees on the various layer2 up to a factor of 100x
-Ecosystem Fund (fund to incentivize devs and dapps)
-There will be bridges to Solana and Cosmos (which are not EVM)
-Gas fees will be paid in ETH. There will be no Base token so watch out for scam
-Open the eyes of the 110 million users registered on Coinbase by letting them discover the world of onchain and DeFi. All this will be bullish for Ethereum and layer2 (especially Optimism)
It's also possible to try the testnet (remember that there shouldn't be any tokens so no airdrop): Bridge Base (Testnet). In the days of the announcement, a token called $Base which has absolutely nothing to do with this layer2 increased by +500% (this shows how this sector is highly speculative and still not very mature).
You can mint an NFT free to make this event yours forever: Zora Free Mint (Base NFT)
Unfortunately the mint is on Ethereum so you will have to pay the gas fee (the supply is limited and there is a deadline: 18h now).
These days Optimism has also released its second airdrop (there have also been other airdrops, including that of ZigZag a decentralized exchange on ZKsync).
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