Jesse Pollak, founder of the L2 network Base, has publicly acknowledged that his strategy focused on social applications and services was a mistake. In his statement, he noted that the first quarter of 2026 was a "slap in the face" for him and his team. Further development of the project is now under the full control of Coinbase, and Pollak himself is stepping away from operational leadership.
Why the "social onboarding" strategy failed
Pollak long held the belief that social products—such as Farcaster, Zora, and creator tokens—would bring a billion users into the crypto industry. However, as he himself admitted, this ecosystem "completely collapsed." Real growth on the network came from entirely different segments: prediction markets, perpetual futures (perp-DEX), stablecoins, and tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). Base failed to establish a strong position in any of these areas.
Although solutions like Avantis (perp-DEX) and Limitless (a platform for betting on real-world events) already existed on the network, both significantly lag behind competitors. According to analytics, in July, Limitless accounted for only 0.5% of the total nominal volume in the prediction market segment, while Avantis ranked only 18th in trading volume. This clearly demonstrates how far Base has fallen behind the leaders.
New direction: from content to global finance
Now Pollak states that Base should become a blockchain for global finance. Key areas identified include: trading tokenized assets, stablecoin-based payments, and infrastructure for AI agents. The project intends to compete directly with giants like Robinhood and Stripe.
In July, the B20 standard, designed for issuing stablecoins and RWAs, was already activated on the network. In May, the team introduced Base MCP, a tool enabling AI assistants to initiate real on-chain operations. Additionally, the Base app is being transferred to the management of the Coinbase team, led by crypto investor Jordan Fish. The service is expected to become a multi-chain platform and expand beyond the current ecosystem.
My analysis: Pollak's admission is more than just a strategy shift. It is a signal that the market has definitively rejected the "social" approach to mass crypto adoption. Currently, those offering real financial utility—liquidity, payments, and tokenization—are winning. By abandoning the Optimism stack in favor of its own architecture and integrating ZK-proofs, Base is laying the foundation for a new battle—but this time for a place among global financial infrastructures, not social networks.