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Base is a central player in the AI agent stack, specifically acting as the settlement and identity layer. Through its AgentKit SDK, the network enables developers to assign wallets to LLMs, giving agents the ability to perform on-chain actions like sending payments, minting tokens, and interacting with smart contracts. This turns the blockchain into a native 'operating system' for agents that traditional financial systems cannot support.
In the broader ecosystem, Base is championing the concept of agent-to-agent commerce. By reducing transaction costs to fractions of a cent and providing tools for programmatic account management, they are building the infrastructure necessary for agents to operate as independent economic actors. This makes Base a critical platform for anyone building autonomous systems that require financial autonomy or verifiable on-chain history.
Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network built on the OP Stack in collaboration with Optimism. Launched by Coinbase in August 2023, the network is part of the 'Superchain'—a collective of chains that share a common development framework and security model. Unlike other exchange-led blockchains, Base does not have its own network token, instead using ETH for gas fees. This design choice aligns it closely with the Ethereum ecosystem while benefiting from the institutional support of one of the world's largest crypto exchanges.
Jesse Pollak, the head of protocols at Coinbase, leads the project from San Francisco. Under his direction, Base has moved from a general-purpose scaling solution to a hub for the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence. The network provides the infrastructure for decentralized applications to run with significantly lower fees and faster transaction times than the Ethereum mainnet, while maintaining the same security standards.
In late 2024, Base began a concerted push into the AI agent space. The core problem they identified is that while AI agents are becoming more capable at planning and coding, they lack the ability to hold assets or perform transactions independently. Traditional banking systems require human identity verification (KYC) and centralized oversight, which are structural barriers for autonomous software. Base addresses this by treating the blockchain as a permissionless financial layer for software entities.
Through tools like AgentKit, Base provides developers with a framework to integrate crypto wallets directly into Large Language Models (LLMs). This allows an agent to pay for its own API keys, trade assets, or hire other agents to perform tasks. By removing the human-in-the-loop requirement for payments, Base is attempting to bootstrap a new economy where software-to-software commerce is the primary driver of network activity.
The network is built on the OP Stack, an open-source modular toolkit for building blockchains. This choice ensures that Base remains compatible with the broader Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) ecosystem, allowing developers to port existing code from Ethereum or other L2s with minimal changes. The integration with Coinbase's product suite is a significant differentiator. Users can move assets from their exchange accounts to the Base network through a simplified interface, reducing the friction typically associated with on-chain activity.
Base is also a major contributor to the development of 'smart wallets.' These accounts use account abstraction (ERC-4337) to replace traditional seed phrases with familiar authentication methods like Passkeys or biometric data. For AI agents, this means their cryptographic keys can be managed programmatically and securely, enabling them to sign transactions based on internal logic rather than human prompts.
Base enters a crowded market of L2 solutions, including Arbitrum, Optimism, and ZK-rollups like ZKsync. Its competitive advantage is distribution. By being the 'home' chain of the Coinbase wallet and exchange, Base has immediate access to millions of retail users and billions in liquidity. This distribution is now being aimed at the AI sector. The network is actively fostering a community of 'agent builders' who are moving away from centralized AI platforms in favor of the transparency and autonomy provided by the blockchain. This strategy positions Base not just as a scaling tool, but as the financial backbone for the next generation of autonomous software.
A framework for giving AI agents crypto wallets and onchain capabilities.
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