In a report published by the investment company Franklin Templeton, it is stated that “the network developed by the Coinbase exchange is well positioned” in several growing trends in the cryptocurrency industry. The company exposes Ethereum's Layer 2 network Base has seen an increase in activityprimarily driven by meme cryptocurrency trading and decentralized social media applications. For Franklin Templeton, the network created by the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States has hit a «home run in the world of SocialFi.» SocialFi is an emerging approach to social media that aims to empower users by promoting data ownership, transparency and resistance to censorship. This is different from traditional social networks like Facebook or Twitter, which are controlled by a single company that has complete power over user data and content. According to the report, Base has 46% of all SocialFi related transactions. «This category is key to the adoption and growth of Base.»
Transactions related to decentralized social networks. Source: Franklin Templeton. The graph above shows that Base has a higher number of transactions in the SocialFi sector than older networks like BNB Chain or Polygon.
Friend.Tech positions itself on the Coinbase network
Among the decentralized social media applications on the Base network, Franklin Templeton highlights the performance of Friend.Tech, created only for mobile devices. This social network allows you to buy and sell «shares» of connected X accounts. Owning the shares grants access to a private chat room. To access you need an invitation code from an active Friend.Tech user. Friend.Tech's growth was fueled by an airdrop of the FRIEND token on May 4. The asset is currently trading at $2.22 with a market capitalization of $206 million, according to data from tracker CoinGecko. As defined by Criptopedia, the educational section of BitcoinDynamic, airdrops are free distributions of tokens or cryptocurrencies to users of a network or protocol to reward their loyalty, encourage participation and increase adoption of the platform.
USDC stablecoin gains ground on Base
Additionally, Franklin Templeton points out that Base also has seen a huge increase in USDC supply, which is currently $2.6 billion, as seen in the DeFiLlama chart below. This is because in December 2023, Coinbase announced free USDC transfers on Base.
USDC Offer on Base. Source: DefiLlama. As reflected in the report, the investment company highlights that Base offers a “solid combination of decentralized social networks SocialFi (Social Finance) and direct integration with Coinbase users.”