Key architect of the L2 network Base, Jesse Pollak, has officially admitted that his bet on social applications as the main driver of mass crypto adoption was a mistake. As a result, he is stepping back from operational management of the project, handing over the reins to the Coinbase team.
Pollak candidly stated that the first quarter of 2026 was a "punch in the face" for him. After six months of reflection, he concluded that the ecosystem built around Farcaster, Zora, and creator content tokens had "completely collapsed." Instead, real growth in the industry was driven by prediction markets, perpetual futures, stablecoins, and asset tokenization—segments where Base failed to secure a dominant position.
Even existing solutions on the network, such as the perp-DEX Avantis and the event betting platform Limitless, 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 18th in trading volume. This vividly illustrates the depth of the strategic crisis.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also acknowledged that the bet on content creation infrastructure did not pay off, and the company pivoted away from this concept earlier this year. Now, Base has been given a clear and ambitious goal: to become the blockchain for global finance.
New Direction: Finance, Payments, and AI
Pollak stated that the project will now focus on three key areas: trading tokenized assets, stablecoin-based payments, and solutions for AI agents. Robinhood and Stripe are named as direct competitors—a radical departure from the previous social paradigm.
Already in July, the B20 standard for launching stablecoins and RWAs was activated on the network, and in May, the Base MCP tool was introduced, allowing AI assistants to initiate on-chain operations. The Base app will come under the management of the Coinbase team, led by crypto investor Jordan Fish, and will become a multi-chain platform, expanding beyond the current ecosystem.
My professional commentary: Pollak's admission is a rare case of honesty in the crypto industry, where failures are often swept under the rug. However, the shift in strategy to "finance + AI" is not just a pivot but a race against leaders who have already established themselves in these markets. Base will need not only to catch up but also to offer unique solutions to avoid repeating the fate of its social bet.