How base crypto projects are reshaping DeFi, AI, and social on-chain

Incubated by Coinbase, Base has quickly become a focal hub for base crypto projects, drawing liquidity, developers, and users into an expanding on-chain economy.

Base Layer 2 growth and ecosystem overview

Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 network launched on mainnet in August 2023 and incubated by Coinbase. Since going live, it has grown rapidly, surpassing $4.1 billion in total value locked (TVL) and becoming the largest Layer 2 by TVL. This rise has attracted a wave of native applications across DeFi, AI, and social.

Moreover, the most prominent native Base projects now span decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, prediction markets, AI infrastructure, and social token experiments. The projects highlighted here originate primarily on Base, and they are presented without any ranking order.

Aerodrome Finance: liquidity hub of the Base ecosystem

Aerodrome Finance, launched in August 2023, is the largest decentralized exchange on Base by TVL, with more than $424 million locked at the time of writing. It serves as a primary liquidity hub for many Base tokens, offering large and deep liquidity pools that support trading and yield strategies across the network.

The protocol was originally built as a fork of Optimism’s Velodrome DEX and implements the ve(3,3) tokenomics model. Users lock AERO tokens to gain voting power and direct where rewards flow across liquidity pools. However, unlike traditional DEXs where liquidity providers earn trading fees, Aerodrome redirects 100% of trading fees to users who lock their AERO.

In November 2025, Dromos Labs — the parent company of both Aerodrome and Velodrome — announced a merger of the two platforms into a single unified platform called “Aero.” The goal is to create a cross-chain trading venue spanning both Base and the Optimism network, consolidating liquidity and incentives.

Virtuals Protocol: AI agent launchpad on Base

Virtuals Protocol is an AI agent launchpad that went live on Base in October 2024. It simplifies the creation, launch, and tokenization of AI agents directly on-chain. Moreover, it is positioning itself among emerging base ai startups by combining AI infrastructure with crypto-native incentives.

The platform allows AI agents to interact both with users and with other agents. Extra inference costs for additional computation are paid exclusively in the VIRTUAL token. Notable AI agents include Luna, an AI music artist and livestreamer, and aixbt, a market intelligence agent that operates its own X account.

That said, the long-term vision for Virtuals involves AI agents generating income streams through inference fees. Users pay for agent interactions, and those payments can accrue to the agent’s tokenized economy or its creators, tying AI behavior to on-chain economic incentives.

Clanker: automated token deployment via Farcaster

Clanker is an AI agent developed by a Farcaster engineer and Proxy Studio that automates token deployment on Base using simple text prompts. Since launching on November 8, 2024, it has accumulated $49.8 million in fees and launched more than 500,000 tokens, underscoring the scale of its activity.

Users on Farcaster tag @clanker_world with a token name, ticker, and optional image. The agent then deploys an ERC-20 token on Base with liquidity seeded on Uniswap. Examples of tokens created through Clanker include Luminous (LUM), BankrCoin (BNKR), and the Clanker token itself. However, such frictionless deployment raises questions about sustainability and signal-to-noise across the memecoin landscape.

In October 2025, Farcaster acquired Clanker and integrated it more deeply into its own platform. This move tightens the link between social activity and token creation, effectively turning Farcaster into a powerful base token launchpads interface for users and communities.

Limitless Exchange: prediction markets with CLOB infrastructure

Limitless Exchange is a decentralized prediction market built on Base that has processed more than $550 million in trading volume. Prediction markets turn opinions about future events into tradable assets, enabling participants to buy or sell exposure to real-world outcomes.

Launched with backing from Coinbase Ventures and using Pyth Network oracles for reliable off-chain data, Limitless offers nonstop hourly and daily markets with same-day settlement. Moreover, the platform uses a Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) model that provides tight spreads and instant execution for traders.

Users buy “Yes” or “No” positions on a given outcome. If their prediction is correct at settlement, each share is worth $1. This structure makes Limitless one of the more advanced base prediction markets, as it blends traditional market microstructure with on-chain settlement.

Zora: social coins and creator economies on-chain

Zora is an on-chain social network that turns posts into tradable coins on Base. Every post can be minted as an ERC-20 token, creating mini-economies where creators earn from trading activity tied to their content, audience, and engagement.

The company was founded in 2020 and initially launched on Ethereum in January 2021 as an NFT marketplace. In June 2023, Zora deployed its own Layer 2 network based on Optimism’s technology stack to reduce minting costs. However, its newer model leans heavily into social coins rather than pure NFTs.

In 2025, Zora introduced its “Coins” model. Each post mints with a fixed supply of 1 billion coins, and creators receive 10 million tokens upfront. Creators earn 50% of trading fees and 50% of LP fees whenever their post’s coins are traded, turning engagement into a revenue stream.

Zora saw a notable integration in July 2025 when the Base App — a rebranding of Coinbase Wallet — integrated both Zora and Farcaster. That said, this placed Zora at the center of new base social token platforms, connecting wallets, social graphs, and creator tokens within a single user experience.

Seamless Protocol: lending, ILMs, and leverage tokens

Seamless Protocol is a decentralized native lending and borrowing platform on Base. It was initially built as an AAVE V3 fork, then later migrated to Morpho to gain greater architectural flexibility and improved capital efficiency for users and LPs.

The protocol has grown into one of the top platforms on Base by TVL, serving over 250,000 users and managing more than $80 million in assets. Moreover, Seamless introduced Integrated Liquidity Markets (ILMs), which enable undercollateralized lending by allowing only authorized smart contracts called “Borrowing Strategies” to borrow assets.

ILMs reduce traditional overcollateralization requirements by restricting loans to transparent, audited smart contracts with specific purposes. In June 2025, Seamless launched Leverage Tokens — ERC-20 tokens that package complex DeFi strategies into a single asset, making advanced positions accessible. Governance is handled via the SEAM token, which must be delegated to gain voting power across protocol decisions.

Seamless has also deployed altcoin-specific lending markets on Base, expanding beyond blue-chip collateral and growing the universe of base lending protocols. This supports a broader range of assets while keeping risk controls embedded in smart contract design.

BRETT: Base-native memecoin with fair launch design

BRETT is a memecoin on the Base network, inspired by a character from Matt Furie’s “Boy’s Club” comic series. It launched in February 2024 and quickly captured community attention across social and trading platforms.

By December 2024, BRETT had become the largest memecoin on Base, reaching a peak market capitalization of more than $2 billion. The token has a permanently capped supply of 10 billion units, a renounced contract so no one can mint more tokens or alter the code, and locked liquidity for 365 days.

Moreover, BRETT followed a fair launch design, with no presale and no team allocation. This structure has helped fuel grassroots adoption and trading activity, even as it underscores the speculative nature of many base projects crypto investors pursue.

How base crypto projects are shaping Base’s trajectory

The Base ecosystem now hosts a diverse collection of DeFi, AI, social, and cultural initiatives. From Aerodrome’s liquidity infrastructure to Virtuals AI agents, from Clanker’s automated token deployment to Limitless prediction markets, these applications push into new crypto categories.

As usage grows, these base crypto projects are positioned to benefit from stronger network effects and expanding user bases. That said, their success will depend on long-term sustainability, security, and product-market fit. Collectively, they already offer opportunities in trading, building, content creation, and community participation across the Base Layer 2 network.