Base Reaches Record 8,8 Million Daily Transactions and Leads the Layer 2 Ecosystem

• Base reaches 8,8 million daily transactions
• Virtuals Protocol boosts use of AI agents
• Base leads Layer 2 with 106,24 TPS

The Base network reached a new record by registering 8,8 million daily transactions, consolidating itself as a leader in the optimistic rollup ecosystem and demonstrating robust growth across several indicators.

Base network trading volume reaches new high

The daily transaction volume of Coinbase's layer-2 network, Base, has reached a record high of 8.8 million transactions, according to The Block. Over the past seven days, Base has seen a net inflow of $227 million, far outpacing Solana…

— CoinNess Global (@CoinnessGL) December 5, 2024

Competing networks also saw an increase in transaction volume: Arbitrum recorded 2,5 million and Optimism 900 thousand transactions in the same period.

Base’s Total Value Locked (TVL) reached $3,6 billion, driven by net inflows of $227 million over the past seven days, surpassing Solana’s $71 million over the same period.

On November 28, network fees reached $766, the highest in three months, reflecting the growing demand for block space.

This surge in activity is largely attributed to the growing interest in AI agent protocols, especially the Virtuals platform. The Virtuals Protocol provides a framework for creating, co-owning, and monetizing AI agents across a variety of digital environments, including gaming, entertainment, and social media. Notable projects in this ecosystem include AIXBT and LUNA, both of which are AI agents that users can interact with.

The integration of AI capabilities represents a new narrative for user differentiation and engagement in Layer 2 solutions. A notable example is Freysa AI, an agent programmed to never deliver money to the user. However, one participant managed to overcome the challenge, extracting $47 in cryptocurrency. The Freysa AI challenge attracted 195 players who made 482 attempts, demonstrating significant engagement with AI agent mechanics. The platform implemented incremental query fees during the challenge, introducing a new revenue model for AI-cryptocurrency interactions. The Freysa AI incident highlights potential security challenges in AI-powered protocols, as similar methods can be used to hijack or influence other AI agents.

On November 24, Base’s daily average transactions per second (TPS) surpassed triple digits for the first time, reaching 106,24 TPS, according to L2beat. Base accounted for 27,8% of the Ethereum ecosystem’s combined throughput, followed by Xai Layer 3 at 85,6 TPS and Taiko rollup at 51,1 TPS.

The growth of the Base reflects broader trends in Layer 2 innovation, with the combination of rising transaction numbers and TVL indicating sustained ecosystem development beyond speculative activity.

Base also holds significant dominance over the Layer 2 user base, hosting 6,59 million wallets, or nearly 65% ​​of active L2 addresses as of last week, according to GrowThePie. For comparison, Arbitrum held an 11% market share with 1,13 million users, followed by Linea at 4,83%, OP Mainnet at 2,87%, and Taiko at 2,85%.

Decentralized exchanges are a significant factor in Base’s growth, with the network ranking as the third-largest chain by weekly DEX volume, totaling $9,92 billion. Solana topped the list with $40,5 billion, followed by Ethereum at $20,4 billion, according to DeFi Llama.

On November 22, Uniswap Labs highlighted that the Uniswap protocol has processed over $80 billion in volume on Base to date, up from $1,38 billion at the end of 2023.