Base's Relentless 2025
A challenging 2025 for Ethereum L2s didn’t slow Coinbase’s homegrown chain.
In a volatile year for DeFi, Base kept experimenting and compounding builder momentum, even as other L2s stalled.
The Coinbase-incubated chain finished 2025 ranked first among L2s in revenue, earning $82.6M on the year while hosting $4.3B in DeFi TVL and $4.8B in stablecoin value. This came during a choppy market backdrop, with ETH, BTC, and COIN now ending a year of all-time highs firmly in the red, underscoring how much of Base’s growth was driven by onchain activity rather than just broader price tailwinds.
That momentum wasn’t the result of a single breakout product or a token-fueled incentives cycle. Instead, Base leaned into a continuous buildout across DeFi products, developer tools, and infrastructure upgrades, each reinforcing the chain's flywheel.
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David Christopher
David is a writer/analyst at Bankless. Prior to joining Bankless, he worked for a series of early-stage crypto startups and on grants from the Ethereum, Solana, and Urbit Foundations. He graduated from Skidmore College in New York. He currently lives in the Midwest and enjoys NFTs, but no longer participates in them.
