share
The astonishing 4M% surge of meme coin BALD appears to be the catalyst for significant inflows into the fledgling crypto bridge. Investors have funneled substantial sums through a unidirectional bridge to the Base blockchain, envisioning lucrative returns – a curious move given the blockchain’s non-public status. However, the landscape has been rife with fraudulent schemes and rug pulls, shattering aspirations for many hopefuls. The allure of meme-coin fortunes within a deprived market has enabled Coinbase’s novel layer-2 blockchain, known as Base, to amass around $68M, generating over $200M in trading volumes and surpassing transaction counts of established networks like Arbitrum over the weekend. Sounds weird? You’ll be more surprised if you find out that the network hasn’t launched in the public space yet. Let’s dig in!
BALD Young Fraudsters
Platforms like Base, known as bridges, facilitate token transfers among multiple networks. Coinbase’s Base, developed on OP Stack, entered a developer testing phase in July, offering a preview of apps and services ahead of the planned full-scale rollout later in 2023.
Freshly extracted on-chain data reveals a sudden surge of more than $68M worth of Ether flooding into the network over a span of just 48 hours. This intriguing influx synchronously aligns with the meteoric ascent of the meme coin BALD. Previously, the daily stream of funds hovered between $500K and $700K. Particularly striking is the most dynamic wallet in action, steering a hefty $13M in Ethers—a sum that outshines all others, none of which managed to breach the $1M mark.
The Birth of the Frenzy finds its roots in BALD, the meme coin that finds its trading grounds on the LeetSwap decentralized exchange situated atop the Base blockchain. This whimsical coin witnessed a spectacular surge, propelling itself to an unbelievable 4M percent surge from its very inception to the zenith of its valuation. Even more astounding is the fact that its trading volumes galloped past the $100M threshold in a mere day.
The news about this sudden surge spread rapidly throughout online crypto communities on social platform X. This led to a large influx of traders who eagerly sought to connect their assets to the network, even though a fully functional two-way bridge was not yet in place. In an astonishing turn of events, one trader managed to transform a mere five hundred dollars into a staggering $1.5M in just a span of 12 hours. This event triggered an intense wave of speculation, highlighting the prevalent quick-profit mindset that often characterizes the cryptocurrency market.
Research findings indicate that tokens linked to Base, including brian (BRIAN), toshi (TOSHI), and basedbot (BOT), experienced an unprecedented surge of several thousand percentage points. This led to enormous benefits for early investors who had the foresight to get in early. However, due to the absence of strong underlying fundamentals, those who joined later found themselves grappling with issues of liquidity when attempting to exit their positions.
Elsewhere, opportunistic developers introduced numerous tokens only to execute rug pulls later. Customers discovered and reported that they had bought imitations like BALD and BOT, unable to trade them on the open market.
Some traders speculated that the capital influx stemmed from token holders seeking opportunities amid a rather stagnant market. Jeff Mei, COO of the crypto platform BTSE, noted that these volatility-driven swings present enticing profit-locking prospects and underscore the enduring influence of retail traders in the crypto landscape.
However, Mei provided a word of warning against succumbing to FOMO-driven surges, underscoring the extremely speculative and unstable characteristics of meme coins when contrasted with the most renowned assets.
Though some analysts expressed reservations about Base’s future, particularly its fundamentals, due to disproportionate influence by a single entity, others like Matan Doyich of Crypto Index emphasized watching Base due to its ties with Coinbase and notable collaborations.
In summary, Coinbase’s incipient blockchain venture has garnered significant attention and capital, fueled by meme-coin excitement and a fervor for quick profits, although skepticism abounds regarding its sustainability and underlying support.
