Networks
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Solana
BNB Chain
XRP Ledger
Cardano
Avalanche
TRON
Polkadot
Cosmos Hub
NEAR Protocol
Aptos
Sui
TON
Litecoin
Hedera
Algorand
Monero
Celestia
Injective
Base
Arbitrum One
OP Mainnet
Polygon PoS
zkSync Era
Starknet
Scroll
Linea
Blast
Mantle
Mode
Taiko
opBNB
Robinhood Chain
Immutable zkEVM
Xai
ApeChain
Degen Chain
Sanko
B3
RARI Chain
Orderly NetworkBlock explorersName servicesBridgesSwap guidesCoinbase's Ethereum layer 2, and the easiest onramp from a US exchange into onchain apps. Base has no separate gas token. You pay in ETH, fees are usually well under a cent, and moving funds in from a Coinbase account takes seconds.
Live market data
Prices as of September 29, 2026, replaced by live figures as the page loads. Prices move constantly and are for orientation only.
What Base is for
Base has no separate gas token. You pay in ETH, fees are usually well under a cent, and moving funds in from a Coinbase account takes seconds.
Because Base settles to Ethereum, your funds ultimately depend on Ethereum security plus the correctness of the rollup itself. That is a genuinely strong position, and it is not identical to holding on the base chain.
Technical summary
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Layer | Layer 2 |
| Launched | 2023 |
| Type | Optimistic rollup |
| Settles to | Ethereum |
| Built with | OP Stack |
Block explorers
An explorer lets you verify any transaction, address or contract on this network yourself. Learning to read one is the fastest way to stop taking anyone's word for anything.
Wallets that support it
Getting funds onto Base
The official bridge is the safest route. Third party bridges are faster and add their own risk, which has historically been the largest source of losses in crypto.
What to be aware of
- Most layer 2s currently run a single sequencer operated by one company, which can in principle reorder or delay transactions.
- Upgrade keys are often held by a small multisig, meaning the rules can change.
- Withdrawing through an official optimistic rollup bridge takes about seven days by design.
- Crypto assets are volatile. Drawdowns of seventy percent or more have happened on every network in this list, including the largest.
- Sending to an address on the wrong network can lose funds permanently. Always send a small test amount first.
Nothing on this page is investment advice. We describe how networks work, not whether you should buy anything.
Other networks at this layer
Same job, different tradeoffs. Each of these has its own page covering what it is actually for, who runs it and where it struggles.
Common questions
Who actually runs Base?
Does Base have its own token?
Where to go next
Compared head to head
The question people actually ask is not "what is this" but "this one or that one". Each of these ends with a pick and the reasoning behind it.
New to Base?
We can get you set up with the right wallet, funded, and through a first transaction on this network in about an hour, on a screen share.