Despite some crypto traders expecting a massive capital flow to Coinbase’s Base blockchain on its first day after launch, data from a Dune Analytics dashboard shows just over $10 million was bridged to the new blockchain in the past 24 hours. Wallet analysis shows most Base users transfer between $500-$1,000 worth of Ether (ETH) on average, with the biggest wallet to bridge transferring $17 million worth of tokens.
A reason for the slow first day could be that most investors who wanted to bridge to Base did it before the official launch, such as with the issuance of viral meme coin BALD (BALD) which saw traders jump in ahead of the official launch in the search for outsized returns, sending over $66 million via a one-way bridge to Base.
Coinbase is amping up efforts to draw users to the new network, kicking off “On-chain Summer,” a virtual event, on Wednesday in celebration of Base’s mainnet launch. It is also encouraging users to bridge their Ether to Base in order to mint a free NFT to commemorate the launch of the Base mainnet, with over 125,000 individuals having minted over 30 million free NFTs so far.
But do traders want a shiny, rocketing memecoin instead?