Wu Says he has learned that Base founder Jesse Pollak posted that the first quarter of 2026 will be a major challenge for Base. Past bets on social products and content-coin direction involved misjudgments, causing Base to lag competitors in key areas such as perpetual contracts, prediction markets, tokenization, and payments. Pollak said he has already shifted the focus back to building blockchain infrastructure, and believes the crypto industry does not need to rely on social to achieve large-scale growth; financial applications such as stablecoins, prediction markets, perpetual contracts, and tokenization are enough to bring users on-chain. The Base App has been returned to Coinbase for management, with Cobie responsible for further development. Pollak will focus on making Base into global financial infrastructure, and in 2026 will prioritize three areas: trading, payments, and AI Agents—including support for tokenized stocks, stablecoin payments, and AI-focused on-chain economic activities.