The developers of the Base blockchain, a layer-2 owned by Coinbase, have developed an interesting web3 identity product that makes cryptographic alphanumeric addresses readable.
During the last Summit BaseCamp event, “Basenames” was presented, a tool that brings Coinbase closer to the popular onchain naming systems including ENS and Unstoppable Domains.
These tools offer numerous advantages for the user, simplifying a series of slow and cumbersome processes and improving the fields of storage, consensus, and security.
In the meantime, the Base network continues to grow in various on-chain metrics.
All the details below.
Coinbase reveals a new identity tool on the Base blockchain
Yesterday the development team behind the popular blockchain Base, managed by the exchange Coinbase, introduced at the Summit BaseCamp a new web3 identity tool.
During the event held in Idyllwild, CA and recorded in streaming with live Youtube, the cryptographic experts revealed to their stakeholders the launch of “Basenames”.
Similarly to the canonical on-chain naming systems like ENS and Unstoppable Domains, this tool allows alphanumeric addresses on the blockchain to be readable.
Basenames uses the same mechanism as the Ethereum Name Service, providing users with addresses tagged “.eth” such as “Cryptonomist.eth”.
ICYMI during today’s livestream at BaseCamp, Basenames are now in early access
Get a unique name powered by ENS, build a based profile showing your skills,and discover other based builders that you want to work withhttps://t.co/HLCMYlVz4O pic.twitter.com/0OaFJECbgp
— Base (@base) August 1, 2024
As mentioned by the representatives of the Base network, the blockchain identity tool will be able to connect to a series of web3 wallets.
This means that non-custodial wallets like Metamask, Rainbow, and Coinbase Wallet will be able to read addresses registered with shorter and more easily readable names.
Additionally, Basenames acts as an onchain resume, where people attest to having talents and skills, publicly verifiable in an open manner.
It is worth noting how this tool makes payments on blockchain easier and makes less prone to “fat finger” errors where one interacts with a wrong address.
There is also a web page where users can customize their profiles and search for other Basename addresses to interact with.
Thomas Vieira, Head of Product della blockchain Base emphasized the importance of a product like this for a large organization such as Coinbase.
“Our vision for base names is that it is the connective tissue that will allow builders to connect with other builders, builders to connect more closely with people. I might have 10 ^ 18 problems, but the chain identity won’t be one.”
The product will initially be available to all those who attend BaseCamp and will be distributed to the public in the next two weeks.
The advantages of web3 identity solutions on blockchain
The launch of the new blockchain identity tool by the Base team highlights the commitment and determination of the Coinbase group in aligning with technological innovations in the sector.
The presence of web3 identity products like Basenames is becoming increasingly massive, highlighting the need for tools capable of giving a face to the numerous cryptographic addresses. Among the best successful solutions launched in recent years in this field, we find Nomis, Galxe, Worldcoin, Polygon ID, Dock, 0xScore Base Name Service, etc.
The advantages of using these protocols are numerous, as reported in the report “Blockchain Identity Management”, recently published by the Dock team.
First of all, we find the greater ease and discretion in sharing data on blockchain, opening the doors to an era of privacy made of information minimization.
The introduction of ZK proofs (Zero-Knowledge) indeed allows sharing only parts of a credential necessary for the verifier of a blockchain, hiding private data.
For example, someone can confirm they are at least 18 years old to purchase alcohol without having to reveal their date of birth.
Decentralized identity tools also introduce a new methodology for securely storing information. With DID (decentralized ID) a user can easily authenticate to a third-party app with the help of the blockchain.
Very important also the storage factor, with web3 identity tools that can be stored more easily on individual devices.
This also prevents hackers from compromising large decentralized data databases, while in centralized storage systems this is still possible.
Finally, it is worth highlighting the advantage of a simpler and faster data verification, with great opportunities for both the layer-2 Base and the exchange Coinbase.
The presence of DID makes, for example, the “Know Your Customer” verification process (KYC) more smart, which is mandatory for CEX.
The documents issued as verifiable digital credentials are also more difficult to lose and falsify.
On-chain analysis of the Base network, layer-2 of Coinbase
After analyzing the launch of the latest decentralized identity product by Coinbase’s incubator, let’s take a look at the latest data from the Base blockchain.
The layer-2 of Ethereum continues to print positive metrics in the month of July, despite the TVL of the chain being slightly down in the last 30 days.
Since the beginning of the year, the balance appears very positive, with an integration of 18.3 billion dollars as locked capital.
Compared to August 2023, however, the TVL shows a significant increase of 29 billion dollars.
According to the L2Beat ranking, the Base blockchain represents the 2nd largest second-layer chain on the market, second only to the top seed Arbitrum.
The daily TP/S amounts to 40.29 points, while in the last 30 days there have been approximately 107 million TX.
According to the data from Dune Analytics, the month of July was very profitable in terms of new addresses and transactions recorded within the Base network.
The chain managed by the Coinbase team recorded the highest value ever in these two metrics in the third week of the month.
In particular, it has seen almost 27 million transactions executed for about 2.6 million new cryptographic addresses.
Probably, given the launch of the identity service on blockchain Basenames, these numbers will continue to grow in the coming months.
It is also worth noting how in the last week the highest inflow value on the network in the last 4 months has been recorded.
In particular, about 81 million dollars of assets have been bridged, most of which are related to movements of ETH from various blockchains to that of Base.
The weekly revenue has doubled compared to what was reported in the month of June with profits exceeding 800,000 dollars.
These data could anticipate the return to a momentum of FOMO for Coinbase’s L2 chain, bringing the overall situation back to the levels of March.
In that context, in just one week Base had attracted capital for 273 million dollars and collected 10 million dollars in fees.
