An Introduction to Base Network: The DeFi Rookie’s Guide to Getting Involved
Introduction
Coinbase’s new network, Base, is making massive waves this week as adoption has taken a serious uptick due to coins like $BALD, $RCKT, $BASE, and more. I do not vouch for any of these tokens personally, and I implore you to not take anything in this article as financial advice, but due to this being such a strong meta in DeFi right now I wanted to take the time to write out a short guidebook on how to get involved. The user experience on Base at the moment is not without its challenges — as of right now there isn’t even a front end for bridging back to mainnet and there are only a few exchanges where you can trade. By the end of this article you should have all the knowledge necessary to dive in though, and in this next section I will start off by covering how you can bridge your funds from mainnet Ethereum to Base.
Bridging to Base
Bridging to Base is the first step to getting involved. Currently, the bridge is one-way due to no working front end, meaning once you’ve moved your Ethereum (ETH) to Base, there’s no way to move it back to the Ethereum mainnet. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to bridge to Base Mainnet:
- Send ETH to the contract address 0x49048044D57e1C92A77f79988d21Fa8fAF74E97e.
- Add the Base network to Metamask. You can use this link: https://chainlist.org/?search=base, selecting the ‘Base’ option with chain ID 8453. If you feel more comfortable using Base’s official documentation, their docs on adding the Base network are found here. Given the recent RPC issues though, you may want to add a few different RPCs if you will be trading with any meaningful amount to ensure you will have no downtime. I will cover these issues and the solutions for them later in this article.
- Wait for coins to arrive. In most cases this will take up to 15–20 minutes max, most likely closer to 5–10 minutes. The network is very congested though and it could potentially take longer.
For a complete breakdown, read the Base bridging docs here: https://docs.base.org/tools/bridges/.
Exchanges on Base
Currently as far as I know, there are two main decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on Base: LeetSwap and RocketSwap.
LeetSwap has been exploited as of ~9:30 EST 7/31/23 and liquidity pools are being drained. I would not recommend their product any longer, and if you have utilized their platform I suggest you check your token approvals via revoke.cash, revoking any that are still open. If you provided liquidity to liquidity pools, withdraw the liquidity ASAP.
RocketSwap is the first protocol to trade on Base and automatically provide liquidity. It offers several ways to earn money with the RocketSwap token ($RCKT) and also offers NFTs. Visit RocketSwap here: https://app.rocketswap.cc/exchange/swap
RPC Network Issues
Recently, there was an incident of instability on the publicly provided RPC endpoint for Base. This issue has been addressed and the RPC is now stable. However, the public RPC is not intended for production use and users are advised to use a dedicated node. If you’re a serious trader, consider using services like Blast, QuickNode, or Blockdaemon to generate your own RPC endpoint. If you don’t want to bother with your own personal RPC endpoint, I highly suggest adding an alternate version of the main RPC at the very least, instead utilizing the public RPC from Blast. Information on node providers that are officially recognized by Base can be found here: https://docs.base.org/tools/node-providers/
Checking for Honeypots
When dealing with new tokens on Base, or on any network for that matter, it’s crucial to check for potential issues, including honeypots and other issues with new token contracts. Quickintel Scanner is a tool that can help with this, but it doesn’t guarantee complete safety. Always conduct your own research and exercise caution when dealing with new tokens. Make sure to take the same precautions you would take when trading on mainnet Ethereum.
Opening of the Bridge to Ethereum
According to a tweet from Jesse Pollak, a contributor to Base, the network is currently open for builders and plans to open for everyone in early August. You can view the tweet here. Essentially what this means is that they did not expect this spike in traffic, and that despite the sudden growth that doesn’t change the timeline of their plans. He clarified later in the thread that it is possible to bridge back to L1, but that there is no front-end currently built out. If you’re more tech savvy, a utility for bridging back to mainnet can be found at: https://github.com/base-org/withdrawer. As soon as I hear concrete news about a reliable, more easy to use front-end for a bridge back to L1 I will update this article with the information.
Conclusion
Base is emerging as a thrilling frontier in the decentralized finance landscape. Its potential to become a dominant force in the crypto meta of 2023 and beyond is becoming increasingly evident. Despite its challenges, it offers numerous opportunities for those willing to navigate its waters, demonstrated chiefly by the 4,000,000% gains that $BALD had within 24 hours. As Base continues to evolve and mature, it’s poised to solidify its position as a pivotal player in the DeFi arena. If you’re intrigued by the prospect of pioneering this new frontier, I encourage you to bridge over some funds and delve into the Base ecosystem.
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