Top Base Coins to Buy in 2024 

Ethereum, the leading smart contract platform, has come to dominate the altcoin market with a massive market capitalization and over $40 billion in total value locked across its various dApps. However, its popularity has also exposed limitations in scalability, leading to high transaction fees and slow processing times

“Base” was created by Coinbase and leverages Optimism’s “OP” stack to scale Ethereum transactions. Although the project only went live in 2023, it has quickly grown into a leading layer-2 solution, with several tokens on Base producing eye-watering profits. 

This article will provide a detailed guide to Base, before delving into the top Base coins that analysts and traders have highlighted for their prospective growth in 2024. 

What Is Base?

Base is a layer-2 scaling solution developed by Coinbase and launched in August 2023. It's designed to operate on top of Ethereum, offering a fast, secure, and low-cost environment for decentralized applications (dApps) and the creation of new cryptocurrencies. Base aims to address Ethereum's scalability limitations, making it considerably more accessible and affordable for developers and users.

By providing a scalable development platform, Base has attracted users and projects at an impressive rate, as is reflected by the project's total value locked (TVL), which exceeds $1.5 billion, as of writing. 

Key Features of Base

• Ethereum Compatibility: Base is built on the OP Stack, making it highly compatible with Ethereum. Developers can easily port their dApps from Ethereum to Base with minimal changes.
• Security: Base leverages the underlying security of Ethereum. 
• Low Fees: Transactions on Base are designed to be significantly cheaper than those on the main Ethereum network.
• Developer-Friendly: Base prioritizes ease of use for developers, aiming to simplify the process of building and deploying dApps.

1. Axelar (AXL)

• Price: $1.28
• Market Cap: $827 million
• 90-Day Price Change: +65%

Axelar (AXL) is a decentralized network designed for cross-chain communication. It enables the secure transfer of assets and messages between different blockchains, including those built on Base. Its goal is to solve the problem of blockchain interoperability, allowing developers to create applications that interact with multiple networks.

Axelar's Cross-Chain Gateway Protocol (CGP), powered by a network of validators, facilitates communication and asset transfers between Base and other supported blockchains. Developers can easily integrate cross-chain capabilities into their Base-based dApps using Axelar's SDKs.

Axelar Use Cases:

• Cross-Chain Asset Transfers: Users can move assets between Base and various other blockchains.
• Multi-Chain Applications: Developers can build dApps that use the unique strengths of multiple blockchains, including those connected to Base via Axelar.
• Data Sharing: Axelar supports secure data sharing across connected blockchains, broadening the scope for decentralized applications.

Axelar’s cross-chain solutions have attracted plenty of hype, pushing the project’s native AXL token to several all-time highs over the past six months. It hit an all-time high of $2.64 in March, though it has since pulled back to around $1.28. 

2. Brett (BRETT)

• Price: $0.04
• Market Cap: $340 million
• 90-Day Price Change: +4300%

Brett (BRETT) is Base’s leading meme coin. Like other popular meme coins such as Doge, Floki, and BONK, the token has no utility. Instead, its value is simply derived from online hype and the capacity of the community to draw funds from other speculative traders. BRETT has a maximum supply of just under 10 billion, and every token is in circulation apart from 1.5 billion, which has been set aside for marketing and development. 

The token started trading in February at just $0.0009; since then, it has accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in market capitalization, producing massive returns for early investors despite dipping from its all-time high of $0.08. 

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3. Aerodrome Finance (AERO)

• Price: $1.19
• Market Cap: $522 million
• 90-Day Price Change: 1500%

Aerodrome Finance (AERO) is an automatic market maker (AMM) protocol built on the Base blockchain. It provides a range of financial services, including lending, borrowing, and liquidity provision, in a user-friendly way. Aerodrome aims to be a central hub for DeFi activity within the Base ecosystem. It has grown into one of the most successful DeFi protocols on base, with $660 million in total value locked. 

The project’s native AERO token has rallied in response to the growing demand for DeFi on Base. It has moved from $0.09 in February to an all-time high of $2.31 in April. AERO has since pulled back slightly but continues to trade well above $1. 

Aerodrome utilizes smart contracts to facilitate the following core services:

• Lending: Users can deposit assets to earn interest.
• Borrowing: Users can borrow assets against deposited collateral.
• Liquidity Pools: Liquidity providers earn rewards for supplying assets to trading pools that facilitate swaps.

4. Echelon Prime (PRIME) 

• Price: $19
• Market Cap: $710 million
• 90-Day Price Change: 150%

Echelon Prime (PRIME) is a Web3 gaming platform built on Base, centered around an NFT trading card game. Players engage in strategic battles, collect unique digital cards, and have the potential to earn rewards through gameplay. Essentially, this is Base’s equivalent of games like Gods Unchained on Ethereum. 

PRIME has a maximum supply of around 111 million and a circulating supply of 39 million. New tokens are added to the supply when players earn PRIME tokens by winning battles. Tokens can be spent on in-game assets known as ‘Sinks,’ which include aesthetic assets and tournament entries. 

PRIME’s market capitalization has surged since the token went live in early 2023, and as of this writing, it stands at around $750 million, making it one of the most valuable projects on Base. Over the past three months, PRIME holders have seen returns of over 150% despite a considerable pullback from the $24 all-time high.

PRIME Key Features

• Collectible Card Battles: Players construct decks of NFT cards and face off against each other, utilizing various card abilities and tactical choices.
• Play-to-Earn Mechanics: Skilled gameplay and active participation can lead to earning rewards, including new cards and PRIME tokens.
• NFT Marketplace: Echelon Prime features an integrated marketplace where players can buy, sell, and trade their NFT cards.

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5. Reserve (RSR)

• Price: $0.007
• Market Cap: $365 million
• 90-Day Price Change: 250%

Reserve Rights (RSR) is a utility token within the Reserve Protocol, a platform designed to create stablecoins backed by real-world assets (RWAs). This approach aims to offer price stability and a reliable store of value, particularly in regions with volatile currencies.

As explained on Reserve’s Twitter account, “Reserve is a free, permissionless platform on Ethereum, Base, and now Arbitrum to build, deploy, and govern asset-backed currencies called “RTokens”.

Core Components of the Reserve Ecosystem

• Reserve Token (RST): A stablecoin pegged to a specific asset, such as the US dollar. It's backed by a basket of collateral assets, including other stablecoins, cryptocurrencies, and potentially RWA tokenizations (e.g., tokenized gold or real estate).
• Reserve Rights Token (RSR): Used for governance, network maintenance, and incentivizing arbitrage activity to maintain RST's price stability.
• Collateral Vaults: Smart contracts securely hold the basket of assets that back the value of RST.

The project’s native RSR token has a circulating supply of 50.6 billion and a maximum supply of 100 billion. The token traded flat for the best part of 12 months after it launched in early 2023. Interestingly, it broke out of the stable pattern in early 2024, and over the past three months, it’s returned over 250% and accumulated a $365 million market cap. 

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Final Thoughts on the Top Base Coins To Buy in 2024

The Base network has been one of the biggest crypto success stories of the past couple of years. Naturally, the fact that Coinbase was behind the project gave it a massive headstart over other layer-2s; however, its massive popularity has exceeded expectations. A diverse ecosystem has been built on the blockchain, and several projects have racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in market capitalization. 

Much like Ethereum, the network has a combination of speculative meme coins like BRETT and serious DeFi tokens such as AERO. All five of the coins highlighted in this article have outperformed the wider market, and some analysts expect more gains in the future. 

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile; always conduct thorough research and invest at your own risk.

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