Base Network Token: "Not Something We've Ruled Out"

Summary: 

• Decrypt’s interview with Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, highlighted insights into cryptocurrency regulation, SEC enforcement actions, and developments in the Base Layer 2 blockchain ecosystem.
• Paul revealed enthusiasm about Base’s early advancements and potential for mass adoption of digital assets. 
• He emphasized that while the current focus is on technology and infrastructure improvements, a native token for the Base network isn’t ruled out.

On September 21, a revealing interview was posted on Decrypt’s platform, featuring a conversation with Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal. 

The interview offered insights into several pivotal issues impacting the crypto world, including cryptocurrency regulation, a court ruling regarding Uniswap, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement actions.

Coinbase’s Stand on Base Layer 2

A significant part of the discussion was centered around the Base Layer 2 blockchain project, which has experienced early adoption and high Total Value Locked (TVL) just a few months after the mainnet launch on August 9. 

Paul expressed enthusiasm about the advancements and adoptions in the early stages of the Base network. He stated that the project is still “super early” in its development. 

“We are very excited about the early work being done on Base and the early adoption we are seeing. It’s still super early, and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface on how developers are going to use the technology to do different things,” he said. 

Paul further emphasized the anticipations regarding the technology, hinting at the considerable potential it has for mass adoption of digital assets. He conveyed optimism, hoping the technology will fulfill the longstanding expectations of mass adoption in the crypto and digital assets space.

Possibility of a Native Token

While discussing the potential developments in the Base network, Paul disclosed that the team primarily focuses on improvements in technology and infrastructure, and creating a native token is not ruled out for the future. 

He clarified, “I think a token could be viable at some point in the future. It is not something we’ve ruled out entirely. Our main objective for launching Base was to put the tools and technologies out there to allow and encourage experimentation.” 

However, he also indicated that the tokenization of the protocol is not a prime focus at the current stage, with the main emphasis being laid on enhancing the underlying technology of the protocol.

“The economics and tokenization of the protocol is frankly something that we are less focused on at present,” Paul added. 

Coinbase, according to Paul, is committed to fostering innovation within the Base ecosystem. It aims to provide developers with the necessary tools and technologies to craft innovative applications that could serve a large user base within the ecosystem, thereby contributing to the expansive and varied utilization of the Base network.

What is Base:

Base is a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly Ethereum L2 built to bring the next billion users to Web3. Base is built as the optimum environment for budding developers in Web3 to build on using their RPC testnet endpoint or choose from Node providers: QuickNode, Infura, and Blockdaemon. Developers can start building on the Base testnet today and stay tuned for the upcoming mainnet launch.

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