Base Founder Admits Social Betting Strategy a Failure

Jesse Pollak, the founder of Coinbase's layer-2 blockchain Base (BASE), has acknowledged that an expansion strategy centered on social features was a failure. He stated that Base fell behind rivals in key areas such as prediction markets and perpetual futures while it focused on social.

Pollak made these comments on social media platform X, where he also revealed that he initially thought creators, content, and messaging apps would drive cryptocurrency adoption, but the market completely collapsed.

As a result of this failure, Pollak will step back from operating the Base app and hand control over to Coinbase's Jordan Fish. He will focus on the Base blockchain instead, as it shifts its focus from social to financial applications.