Coinbase's Layer-2 Network Surpasses Solana in DeFi Capital

Base, Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network, has surpassed Solana in terms of curator-managed DeFi capital. According to data from DeFiLlama, Base holds over $1.6 billion in curator-managed vault deposits, which is more than three times the amount held by Solana ($550 million). This is a significant shift in the market, as Solana was previously seen as a leader in cheap and fast transactions.

The success of Base can be attributed to Coinbase's lending pipeline built on Morpho, a protocol that allows risk curators to set parameters for loan-to-value ratios, collateral types, and risk limits. This has attracted professional risk teams such as Gauntlet, Steakhouse Financial, Block Analitica, and RE7 Labs to use Morpho on Base. The protocol has seen a significant increase in TVL, with $2.8 billion currently held on the platform.

The growth of Base is also due in part to Coinbase's distribution channel, which includes an app with tens of millions of verified users who trust the brand enough to put Bitcoin up as collateral without ever touching a wallet extension or a bridge.