From Coinbase Wallet to Base App: Understanding the Opportunities and Transformations of Web3 Super Apps in One Article

Written by: Deep Tide TechFlow

Just last night, Base held a “A new day one” event, where it was officially announced that Coinbase wallet has been renamed to Base App. This is not just a simple rebranding, but a transformation from a single crypto asset storage wallet app into a Web3 super aggregator application covering assets, payments, and social interactions.

The news immediately sparked heated discussions in the market, and various assets on the Base chain experienced varying degrees of increase.

This may also mean that everyone believes that this transformation brings not just a better app, but the beginning of a whole new chapter.

A new chapter often signifies the emergence of many early opportunities and a profound transformation of the existing market landscape.

From Wallet to Aggregated Applications: What Updates Has Base App Made?

This update marks a comprehensive evolution of Base in terms of functionality and positioning: it has transformed from a single cryptocurrency asset management tool into a Web3 super application that integrates asset management, instant payments, social interactions, and a developer ecosystem, opening up a new realm of imagination for users and investors. The core updates are as follows:

Base Pay: USDC instant payment

The latest update of Base App introduces Base Pay, allowing users to make almost real-time low-cost payments using USDC. Currently, Base has partnered with e-commerce giant Shopify and will support USDC payment services for millions of merchants worldwide in the future. Additionally, users only need to hold USDC to enjoy an annual percentage yield (APY) of up to 4.1%.

At the same time, it is expected to launch a 1% cash back reward program for consumer payments for users in the United States by the end of this year. This feature significantly simplifies the on-chain payment process for users, and combined with the rapidly developing stablecoin industry this year, it will greatly improve users’ instant payment experience.

Flashblocks: Faster and Better Blockchain

The Base chain introduces Flashblocks technology, reducing block time to 200 milliseconds and significantly improving transaction processing speed. This change will benefit subsequent users in conducting high-frequency trading, on-chain gaming, and real-time applications within the Base App, providing a more efficient on-chain experience for users and developers.

Base Build: Empowering the Developer Ecosystem

Through the Base Build program, Coinbase provides SDKs, APIs, and funding support, aiming to attract 1 million developers to join the Base chain ecosystem. The “Sign in with Base” feature simplifies the dApp development process, helping developers quickly build applications, and is expected to lay a solid foundation for the future prosperity of the Base ecosystem.

Social: Creating a New Ecosystem for On-Chain Interaction

Unlike traditional cryptocurrency wallet applications, the Base App has introduced innovative social features by integrating the Farcaster protocol to connect to decentralized social platforms. Users can post and share content within the Base App and view on-chain activities in real-time, such as purchasing NFTs or token transfers.

At the same time, the Base App supports Mini Apps of Farcaster, allowing users to directly run lightweight Web3 applications, such as games or DeFi tools. Users can also create personal homepages to showcase their on-chain activities and interact with the community through built-in chat tools. This deep integration of social interaction and on-chain operations will significantly enhance the user experience, making the Base App go beyond the scope of a wallet and become an on-chain social portal.

The above updates have made the Base App no longer just a tool for trading crypto assets, but more like a comprehensive entry point into the Web3 world.

Opportunities under Major Innovations

The comprehensive upgrade of Base App, from USDC instant payments to the integration of Farcaster social features, and the technical empowerment of Flashblocks and Base Build, has not only reshaped the user experience but also unlocked unprecedented opportunities. Below, we focus on potential opportunities that are directly relevant to users and investors.

Opportunities for Investors: Capture the Growth Dividends of Base

The transformation of the Base App has opened up multi-dimensional opportunities for investors, covering DeFi tokens, meme coins, and stablecoin-related assets. Below are the specific investment targets and investment logic. Please note that the following analysis represents personal opinions only and does not constitute any investment advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry risks, please proceed with caution.

cryptocurrency underlying

$AERO(Aerodrome Finance): As the leading DEX (decentralized exchange) on the Base chain, it currently occupies nearly 14.6% of the Base chain’s TVL. With the official launch of the Base App and the opening of social features, along with support from Flashblocks for higher trading frequency, it is highly likely to attract more users to conduct on-chain transactions within the Base App, thereby increasing Aerodrome’s trading volume and fee revenue.

$UNI(Uniswap: Uniswap has been deployed on the Base chain, benefiting from the low latency and high throughput of Flashblocks. The Base Pay and social features of the Base App will attract more retail users to participate in DeFi trading, increasing Uniswap’s trading volume. Farcaster’s Mini Apps support Uniswap’s on-chain interfaces (such as trading bots), which will further enhance user engagement. As a governance token, UNI is expected to benefit from the value increase brought by the expansion of the Base chain ecosystem.

$BRETT: BRETT is the most representative meme coin on the Base chain, similar to Solana’s BONK. The Farcaster social feature of the Base App (personal homepage, on-chain dynamics) amplifies BRETT’s exposure through community discussions and Casts. Mini Apps support lightweight games or NFT trading related to meme coins, further driving speculative enthusiasm.

U.S. stock index

$COIN (Coinbase Global): As the parent company of the Base chain and Base App, Coinbase directly benefits from ecosystem growth. The user growth of the Base App (with hundreds of thousands on the waiting list during the current testing phase) and the integration of Base Pay with Shopify will increase Coinbase’s trading and custody revenue. At the same time, integrating Farcaster social features will attract a large number of new users to use the Base App, further boosting Coinbase’s active addresses. The COIN stock price has risen over 50% since the beginning of the year, and the launch of the Base App may drive it to continue rising.

$CRCL(Circle): As the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, Circle will significantly benefit from the promotion of Base Pay. Base Pay has currently confirmed a partnership with Shopify; using Base Pay to pay for purchases on Shopify will earn a 1% rebate, while holding USDC within the Base App will yield an APY of 4.1%, which will also stimulate the demand for USDC. CRCL will become a direct investment target for the growth of stablecoins.

Developer Opportunities: Minting Ecological Prosperity

The Base Build plan aims to attract 1 million developers to join the Base ecosystem by providing SDKs, APIs, and funding support, creating a prosperous Web3 application ecosystem. The “Sign in with Base” feature simplifies the dApp development process, similar to traditional internet single sign-on, enabling developers to quickly build user-friendly applications without complex front-end integration.

Farcaster’s Mini Apps provide developers with a lightweight development framework, supporting the creation of social, gaming, and DeFi applications, such as on-chain NFT marketplaces, decentralized social tools, and trading bots, significantly lowering the development barrier for developers.

At the same time, the 200-millisecond block time of Flashblocks supports high-frequency trading records, making it suitable for developing applications with high real-time requirements, such as on-chain games or high-frequency DeFi protocols. Below are application tracks that are more suitable for developers to choose from:

social dApp

Develop decentralized social platforms or social-driven applications using Farcaster’s Mini Apps, similar to the on-chain social experience of Lens Protocol.

DeFi and on-chain games

The possibility of developing efficient DeFi protocols or on-chain games, such as liquidity mining or real-time competitive games, will be significantly enhanced based on the high throughput of Flashblocks and the low cost of MagicSpend.

Ecological Integration

Combine the USDC payment feature of Base Pay to develop e-commerce or payment dApps to meet the on-chain transaction needs of platforms like Shopify.

The impact of the transformation of Base App on the Web3 landscape

The transformation of the Base App marks a leap from a single cryptocurrency wallet to a Web3 super application, as it seems that the Web3 world is welcoming its own “IPHONE moment.” Next, we will explore in detail the impact of this transformation of the Base App on the Web3 landscape.

Accelerated Integration of the DeFi Ecosystem

The Base App, based on Flashblocks technology, will significantly enhance the transaction speed of the Base chain, far exceeding that of the ETH mainnet and Optimism. This provides a low-latency, high-throughput environment for DeFi protocols, driving the TVL of the Base chain to continue rising. Meanwhile, Base Build will further attract developers to enrich its dApp ecosystem, similar to how Solana achieved a doubling of TVL through developer incentives in 2021. As an aggregator of traffic, the Base App is very likely to challenge the market share of Arbitrum and Optimism, becoming a leader in Layer 2.

The Rise of Decentralized Social Media

The integration of Farcaster could make the Base App a new hub for Web3 social networking, leveraging the rich Mini Apps and on-chain dynamic features provided by Farcaster, which is expected to inject significant traffic into the creator economy, such as NFT trading and the establishment and governance of DAO communities. At the same time, decentralized social identities will amplify the community effects of Meme-type assets within the Base ecosystem, allowing users to more directly engage with various Meme cultures and projects.

The popularization of stablecoin payments

Base Pay’s USDC payment integrates with Shopify, covering millions of merchants worldwide, combining a 4.1% APY to stimulate the adoption of stablecoins in e-commerce and on-chain applications. The payment and social integration of the Base APP, similar to the Alipay model, may accelerate the globalization of Web3 payment infrastructure.

Conclusion: This is the beginning of a new era.

In the past, users had to switch between wallet, news, social, and exchange applications; in the future, perhaps a single Base App can encompass all. What it addresses is not just the issue of convenience, but also revitalizes countless ideas constrained by technological and ecological bottlenecks. All of this heralds the upcoming dawn of a brand new era in Web3 with the Base App.