Base’s Onchain Summer Heats Up

Daily transactions on Base, the second largest Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network with more than $7 billion in total value locked (TVL), have surged after the team introduced points and badges into its Onchain Summer initiative.

However, the chain’s value per transaction remains significantly lower than its competitors.

On July 16, Arbitrum processed 758,000 transactions with $1.2 billion in total volume, and Optimism recorded 60,000 transactions worth $402 million. Meanwhile, Base handled 918,000 transactions, but with only $355 million of volume.

The daily transaction count skyrocketed after Onchain Summer began on June 3, but average volume has remained largely consistent with levels seen in April and May.

The stark difference in average value per transaction between the L2s can be partially attributed to Base’s Onchain Summer Pass, which incentivizes users to collect free NFTs on Base.

The chain also experienced a large spike in active users after June 3, as its active user count grew to an all-time high of 694,000 on June 28, an 89% increase from June 2.

Onchain Summer Pass

Onchain Summer is Base’s promotional campaign to bring users onchain through its integration with the Coinbase Smart Wallet. The initiative features the Summer Pass, 600 ETH in prizes and grants for developers, and weekly content with the goal of “bringing the next billion people onchain”.

This is the second time Base will be rolling out Onchain Summer, after its first iteration marked Base’s mainnet launch in August 2023.

This year, Base has introduced the Summer Pass, where users can earn points and badges by minting specific art and music NFTs, playing games, or spinning a prize wheel.

The team has yet to disclose the purpose of the points system, but it’s likely that users are speculating on a potential airdrop if Base launches a native token in the future.