Why Base Is Shrugging Off Ethereum's Layer-2 Pivot

For years, the Ethereum rallying cry was all about scaling via various "Layer-2 networks" to chase cheaper and faster transactions and keep pace with rising competition from Solana.

Arbitrum launched. Coinbase launched Base. Starknet, Linea — the list goes on.

But now, after achieving much of what everyone thought was possible, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has called for an evolution in the roadmap, tweeting, "the original vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense, and we need a new path."

According to Base’s Head of Product Wilson Cusack, that path may be less shocking than people think. The core reason Layer-2's build on top of Ethereum is still important to point out.

“Ethereum has a great product in economic security,” Cusack told Coinage in our ongoing Crypto Project of the Year series. “We run Base on Ethereum because it gives us great security guarantees."

That foundational trust in Ethereum remains core to how Base sees itself, even as Vitalik’s post invites a wider reckoning for Layer-2 networks. And to be fair, Vitalik's own messaging seems to be more of a wake up call for chains that either haven't sufficiently decentralized or differentiated.

“For a while there was some hesitancy on our part around changes we wanted to make… The tone from the Ethereum Foundation has been like, 'Yes, we want to see differentiated L2s. We want to see L2s pushing the boundaries.'”

And in 2025, that’s essentially what Base did, by challenging Arbitrum and hitting 'stage one decentralization' in 2025. Base became the top L2 by meaningful throughput — not just transactions, but economic activity.

“Because of the scaling,” Cusack said, “a lot of the dreams of crypto are finally coming to fruition.” He pointed to milestones like the Shopify integration and Base’s work with Stripe and Bridge to enable real-world payments. “We finally have the ingredients,” he said.

As Cusack sees it, that’s only the beginning. While bringing traditional finance onchain remains part of the “known” opportunity (like JPMorgan’s deposit coin launching on Base) what excites him more is what hasn’t yet been built.

“The most valuable companies in the future probably don't exist yet,” he said. “And we want them to be built on Base.”

For now, that vision includes continued support for creator coins — even if the Base app itself may shift focus.

“From the chain point of view… creator coins continue to be a big part of the Base economy,” he said. “There were times when 10% of Base sequencer revenue was coming from creator coins that were launched.” (Coinage launched one of the most popularly traded creator coins of 2025 — and holders are now using the token to help our community owned outlet crown our Crypto Project of the Year.)

But as new narratives emerge — like AI agents — Cusack is quick to draw the line between hype and actual infrastructure needs.

“Anything worth doing, anything important, takes like 6 to 12 months,” he said. “So [the plan is] just focus on what you have a vision for, what you think needs to be in the world, what you actually believe in.”

But as Vitalik triggers a new phase of competition among the L2s, Cusack didn't shed any light on whether that may accelerate Base's token plans. (Last year, Base announced it was exploring a token after saying it had no plans to launch one.)

“We’ve been served so far in not having a token,” he explained. “Are people using it because they like the product? Or because they want an airdrop?”

What’s not open to debate, in Cusack’s view, is Base’s continued commitment to Ethereum. “We’re very happy to be a customer of Ethereum’s security,” he said. “And I don’t see that changing.”

Coinage Caucus and Network NFT holders, along with $COINAGE holders on Base and BAT holders on Ethereum can vote to advance Base or Aerodrome in our Crypto Project of the Year series when voting opens (must be holders by the time the snapshot is taken.)

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