Base's Strategic Pivot: Coinbase's Redirection and Market Imbalances

Base's founder Jesse Pollak has stepped back from leading the Base App after admitting his social-focused strategy was a mistake. Pollak acknowledged that Base had fallen behind in financial applications like prediction markets and perps, stating the market had 'disintegrated completely.' Dune Analytics data shows Base-native prediction market Limitless accounted for just 0.5% of total monthly notional volume in July, while Avantis DEX ranked 18th in DefiLlama's 30-day notional trading volume. Pollak emphasized that Base's future focus would be on AI agents, RWA tokenization, and prediction markets. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong acknowledged the failure of content coins, signaling the company's strategic pivot. Base has recently launched the B20 token standard and Base MCP (Model Context Protocol), integrating AI into its financial focus. Pollak reiterated Base's vision to become 'the blockchain where the world's money settles.' > Coinbase's strategic shift has accelerated Base's focus on financial applications, potentially driving more competition in prediction markets and perps. Base's success will hinge on the integration of AI and RWAs.