Why I Think Coinbase May Eventually Ditch Ethereum and Make Base Its Own Chain

Everyone in crypto wants to pretend Ethereum is the future. It’s the “global settlement layer,” the hub for DeFi, NFTs, rollups — the public infrastructure we’re all supposed to build on. But at some point, you have to stop and ask a simple question:

What is Ethereum actually doing for Coinbase and Base — and is it worth it?

In my view, the answer is becoming increasingly clear: no, it’s not. And I believe Coinbase will likely eventually ditch Ethereum and turn Base into its own sovereign chain — built to serve users, protect its brand, and scale its business.

Here’s why.

1. Ethereum’s UX Is a Nightmare

Let’s be real: crypto UX is fundamentally broken, and Ethereum is the worst offender.

• Gas fees are unintuitive, volatile, and punishing.
• Wallets are clunky, confusing, and terrifying for mainstream users.
• Private keys are either a security hazard or a loss waiting to happen.
• Basic things like bridging tokens or switching networks feel like trying to debug a Linux server in 2002.

This is not a minor inconvenience — it’s a complete non-starter for mainstream adoption.

Coinbase, meanwhile, is one of the most user-focused platforms in crypto. It onboards tens of millions of users with slick interfaces, bank integrations, and trusted brand infrastructure. So why should Coinbase anchor Base to a platform like Ethereum that introduces every possible friction point?

In fact, I believe one of the biggest unlocks for Base in a post-Ethereum world will be the elimination of gas fees entirely.

Right now, because Base settles to Ethereum, it’s stuck with gas as a concept — and worse, it inherits Ethereum’s unpredictable, alienating gas market. But if Base becomes its own chain, Coinbase can completely abstract gas away, replacing it with a smooth, fee-less UX where:

• Users don’t need to hold or swap ETH.
• Transactions are instant and seamless.
• Payments happen in USDC or fiat-like abstractions.
• Costs are either absorbed by apps or integrated invisibly into app logic.

Gas is not just a technical fee — it’s a psychological and economic barrier. Getting rid of it is the single biggest leap toward crypto actually going mainstream.

And the only real way to do that?
Leave Ethereum behind.

2. Ethereum’s “Decentralization” Adds No Value to Base

Let’s kill the myth: Base is not decentralized.

• Coinbase controls the sequencer.
• Coinbase decides what’s deployed, what’s promoted, and how the system works.
• Coinbase can — and likely will — comply with regulators and censor when required.

So what does Ethereum add here?
Nothing but overhead.

It doesn’t make Base more censorship-resistant. It doesn’t decentralize its governance. It doesn’t make it more legitimate — Coinbase already has that by being a regulated, public company.

If Base is centralized anyway, Ethereum isn’t offering trust — it’s just offering latency and gas fees.

3. Ethereum’s Openness Is a Liability, Not a Feature

Ethereum prides itself on being open, permissionless, and unstoppable. That’s fine in theory, but in practice it’s a breeding ground for:

• Scams
• Rug pulls
• Ponzi tokens
• Malicious contracts
• Exploits and social engineering

Now imagine being Coinbase — a regulated financial institution with a reputation to protect — and trying to build a user-friendly, consumer-facing platform on top of that chaos.

Every time some project on Ethereum blows up, or a DeFi hack wipes out millions, it reflects back on the whole ecosystem — including anything tied to it.

By anchoring Base to Ethereum, Coinbase stays adjacent to that risk — reputational, regulatory, and user-facing. That’s not just annoying — it’s fundamentally incompatible with their brand.

4. Coinbase Can Replicate Everything Ethereum Provides — Without Ethereum

Here’s the part nobody likes to say out loud: Coinbase doesn’t need Ethereum. At all.

Everything Ethereum supposedly provides, Coinbase can build or replace:

Ethereum “Benefit”	Coinbase Replacement
Security (validators)	Consortium PoS or in-house validators
Liquidity	USDC dominance, fiat ramps, internal market makers
Smart contract compatibility	EVM-compatible BaseChain
Developer tooling	Native SDKs, wrapped libraries, wallet APIs
Legitimacy	Publicly listed company, regulated presence

Coinbase already controls massive flow, capital, and developer touchpoints. And if they wanted to bootstrap BaseChain as a new standalone ecosystem? They could spin up liquidity incentives, offer fiat on-ramps, and make everything gasless and seamless — overnight.

5. Ethereum Is a Temporary Crutch, Not a Long-Term Fit

Base launched on Ethereum because it was politically safe, technically simple (via OP Stack), and good for early adoption. But long term? It’s like training wheels on a high-performance race bike.

At some point, the downsides outweigh the optics:

• Why rely on Ethereum for data availability when better options exist (Celestia, EigenDA, or even in-house)?
• Why inherit Ethereum’s latency and fee structure?
• Why tie your strategic roadmap to a community and governance process that doesn’t care about your business model?

Coinbase will eventually realize — if they haven’t already — that Ethereum is a liability to scale, not an asset.

🎯 Counter-Arguments — And Why They Don’t Hold Up

To be fair, there are valid reasons people argue for sticking with Ethereum. Let’s take those seriously — and also look at why they don’t ultimately change the outcome.

Counter-Argument 1: Ethereum gives Base credibility and developer trust

Rebuttal: That mattered at launch, but not anymore. Coinbase’s brand now does more for Base than Ethereum ever could. Developers follow users, not philosophies — and Coinbase controls distribution, wallets, and capital. Devs will build wherever the users are.

Counter-Argument 2: Ethereum provides battle-tested security

Rebuttal: Base doesn’t use Ethereum’s consensus — it just posts data to Ethereum. That’s not full trustless security; it’s glorified anchoring. Coinbase already controls everything operationally, and could get better performance and reliability by running its own validator network.

Counter-Argument 3: Ethereum decentralization is important for censorship resistance

Rebuttal: Base is centralized today and will comply with regulators tomorrow. That’s a feature for Coinbase, not a bug. Ethereum’s decentralization doesn’t transfer — if Base must follow U.S. law, Ethereum can’t help it.

Counter-Argument 4: Ethereum’s ecosystem is still the most composable and liquid

Rebuttal: Not for long. Coinbase can inject liquidity via USDC and fiat ramps. It can reward developers directly and deeply integrate BaseChain into the Coinbase app ecosystem. UX wins — and Coinbase controls UX.

The Endgame: BaseChain

Within the next few years, Coinbase forks the OP Stack, drops Ethereum as the base layer, and relaunches Base as a fully sovereign, high-performance chain — optimized for consumer scale, institutional trust, and total UX control.

It’ll:

• Abstract away gas and private keys.
• Feature smart accounts with passkey or biometric login.
• Have fiat ramps and stablecoin-native payments.
• Look and feel like a neobank — but underpinned by blockchain rails.

It won’t be “Ethereum-aligned.” It’ll be Coinbase-aligned.

And that’s probably what it always wanted to be.

TL;DR

Ethereum offers Base nothing Coinbase can’t replicate — and plenty Coinbase would be better off without.

Gas fees, UX debt, scammy ecosystems, governance deadlock — it’s all baggage.

Don’t be surprised when Coinbase cuts the cord, makes Base fully its own, and shows the world what a modern, crypto-native chain looks like — without the legacy.

🔮 Bonus Thought: Base Will Eventually Be Absorbed Into TradFi

There’s one more idea I can’t shake — and it’s a bigger picture one:

I don’t think Base is just a new blockchain. I think it’s the early infrastructure for the quiet absorption of crypto into traditional finance.

Eventually, I believe Base won’t just be a separate chain — it will be invisible. It’ll become part of the backend stack powering traditional financial services, fintech apps, bank transfers, and stablecoin settlements — all with no blockchain branding and no user-facing “crypto” layer at all.

In that world:

• Retail users won’t know (or care) that their USDC transfers run on a blockchain.
• Wallets will be smart accounts tied to phone numbers, face scans, or bank IDs.
• There won’t be seed phrases, gas fees, or ETH balances — just seamless UX and fiat-like interfaces.

Blockchain, in this future, won’t be a revolution the user sees — it’ll be a quiet replacement of the broken guts of TradFi infrastructure. Faster settlement. More transparency. Lower costs. But all happening under the hood.

It’ll be as if the blockchain “movement” never even happened — and yet, it will have won completely.

And if any chain is positioned to live inside that outcome, it’s Base — a fully integrated, quietly powerful, Coinbase-operated backend that disappears into the architecture of modern finance.