Base is experiencing a significant surge in its underlying app activity, even after the slowdown of memes and AI agents. The growth of Morpho lending and the overall value locked in decentralised finance (DeFi) are the key drivers behind Base’s expansion.
The growth in Base is primarily witnessed in DeFi lending, with its app activity recording an impressive increase of 129%. The chain hosts more than 500 decentralised apps, with top DeFi hubs trending in early 2025. In January, the activity on the tokenless chain expanded to over 2 million daily active users, marking a considerable increase in the chain’s liveliness over the past three months.
Base app-based volumes reached an all-time high, thanks to a boost from Morpho Labs and DeFi lending. Base, which initially started as a chain for fun NFT and meme experiments, is now making strides in DeFi, recording a growing turnover of cbBTC trading. This expansion came after Morpho was promoted by Coinbase as a reliable source of crypto-backed loans, offering Coinbase users the opportunity to borrow against a collateral of Bitcoin (BTC).
Another factor that contributed to Base’s growth was its integration into Phantom Wallet, which was instrumental in onboarding more new users in the last quarter of 2024.
January witnessed Base app volumes reaching an all-time high following months of user accumulation. Initially, Base was primarily generating low-value traffic, with accessible transactions and meme-based activity. As of now, Base also holds $2.27 billion in cbBTC, further enhancing liquidity for DeFi activities.
Base has locked in $3.47 billion in total value over time. However, other reports suggest higher value locked in smart contracts. Morpho Blue, the Base version of the lending protocol, locks in a total of $3.56 billion on all chains, accounting for a significant portion of the Base inflows. The lending protocol recently expanded its assets and loans to a new all-time high.
Base is leading other L2 in the throughput metric, which is the increased throughput for Base or gas spent on each transaction. This is due to the growing decentralized app activity and complex interactions with DeFi protocols since the chain’s launch.
According to DappRadar reports, Base houses $2.44 billion in its top DeFi apps, or $1.59 billion in adjusted value. The chain’s top apps include Uniswap V2 and V3, Aerodrome, Morpho, and Moonwell. The development path chosen by Base is capable of competing with Solana, despite lagging in most metrics.
In the last quarter of 2024, Base revenues grew again, but did not reach the peak levels seen in April. The chain’s activity is now more sustainable, coinciding with the expansion of cbBTC. The recent Base expansion follows a period of deliberate marketing, which, however, generated much lower traffic.
Base remains one of the cheapest L2 to transact, only paying a few thousand dollars to verify its transactions on Ethereum, hardly cutting into the chain’s earnings. The current app activity may be more organic, as Base has not hinted at airdropping a token. The chain carries some low-value or zero-cost transactions, but there is no immediate expectation of airdrop farming.
Base seems to be picking up Ethereum’s activity after the initial success of Arbitrum. While Arbitrum retained its status as the chain for DEX swaps and risky trading, Base is gradually catching up with $3.6 billion in stablecoins. Liquidity movements from Ethereum into Base reached $3.44 billion, with a 5% share of stablecoins and the inclusion of ETH and bridged tokens. A total of 612,691 ETH have been bridged on Base for liquidity and DEX trading.
In conclusion, Base continues to be one of the leading chains for DeFi and CeFi activity, with Coinbase’s efforts to offer consumer crypto products. Base still relies on Coinbase’s regulated
