Jesse Pollak: The Pillar Behind Coinbase's Success

• Unfolding the Trend of Layer 2s and Coinbase's 'Base'
• The Impact of 'Base' and Jesse Pollak
• From Coinbase Engineer to Layer 2 Innovator
• Coinbase's 'Base' and Its Impact
• The Ripple Effect of Layer 2 Adoption

Unfolding the Trend of Layer 2s and Coinbase's 'Base'

Layer 2s, the additional blockchains constructed atop a layer 1 to enhance scalability and diminish transaction costs, have emerged as a significant trend in 2023. Notably, Coinbase, traditionally a centralized exchange, developed its own Layer 2, named Base, which recorded considerable success.

The Impact of 'Base' and Jesse Pollak

This year, Jesse Pollak, the mind behind Coinbase's Base, was recognized as a major figure in the Most Influential 2023 list. Pollak and his team were credited with taking the substantial exchange on-chain, demonstrating how Coinbase could transition into a blockchain developer, thereby generating new revenue streams and extending its operations beyond merely serving as a crypto marketplace.

Pollak believes that all significant participants will realize the need to increase their on-chain involvement in the open economy over the next half-decade. This transition will necessitate increased investment in technology, customers, and asset bases in these open systems.

From Coinbase Engineer to Layer 2 Innovator

A native of Washington, D.C., Pollak joined Coinbase in 2017, leading engineering for their consumer businesses. However, only in the autumn of 2021 did the company start exploring ways to bring its business on-chain.

After researching options for almost a year, Pollak and his team concluded in late 2022 that Ethereum$2,315 -2.42% was their best bet, and a Layer 2 was the ideal entry point into this market.

Coinbase's 'Base' and Its Impact

Launched in August 2022, 'Base' is constructed using the OP Stack and has gained some industry recognition, largely due to several social apps that have been launched, like friend.tech. This app was the second-largest revenue generator for a few weeks in August.

However, the Base team primarily sees their Layer 2 as a developer platform, with an ambitious goal to attract a million developers, a billion users. The platform remains several steps from achieving this target, per Pollak.

The Ripple Effect of Layer 2 Adoption

The advent of 'Base' sparked a trend, with other exchanges starting to follow in Coinbase's footsteps. According to insiders, Kraken, the second-largest U.S. crypto exchange and a competitor of Coinbase, is planning its own Layer 2. Similarly, another crypto exchange, OKX, recently announced their X1 Layer 2 chain, built on Polygon$0.967 -3.65% technology.

Pollak predicts that Layer 2s will be adopted by many more industry players, insisting that the trend will not be confined to crypto exchanges.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker