Coinbase aims to streamline its operational processes by increasing the storage of its USDC holdings on Base.

The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is looking to boost the storage of both corporate and customer USD Coin (USDC) balances on Base, a layer-2 solution developed by the exchange and built on the OP Stack. Max Branzburg, Coinbase's vice president of product, highlighted this strategy in a recent announcement on March 27. Branzburg emphasized the exchange's intention to pivot towards Base over Ethereum due to lower fees and faster settlement times, ensuring that this transition will not impact the Coinbase user experience.

The extent to which Coinbase plans to shift its USDC funds to Base and the timeline for this reallocation remain unclear. Currently, according to data from Arkham Intelligence, less than 1% of Coinbase's assets are held on Base, with the majority allocated to the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks.

At present, Coinbase appears to be storing only five tokens on Base, amounting to a total value of $45.8 million. Notably, the tokenized version of USDC constitutes the largest portion of this value, surpassing $37.3 million. However, precise figures are unavailable as Coinbase does not publicly disclose its addresses.

Branzburg's announcement coincides with a significant milestone for Base, as the total value locked (TVL) in the network recently exceeded $1 billion. Data from DefiLlama illustrates a substantial surge in liquidity within the Base network since February, with the TVL skyrocketing from around $400 million to over $1 billion in less than a month.