Last year, Coinbase launched its own Layer 2 blockchain, Base, an ambitious project that has the potential to revolutionize not only Coinbase, but the entire cryptocurrency industry. That's why we're excited to invite Jesse Pollak to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. He's the Head of Protocol at Coinbase, and more importantly, he's also the founder of Base.
When Coinbase entered Y Combinator's startup acceleration program, it wanted to be the easiest and most secure way to buy, sell, send, and receive Bitcoin. And over the past 12 years, the company has experienced incredible growth, along with the cryptocurrency industry, to become one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges and most influential technology companies in the world.
However, as the cryptocurrency world matures, many companies are returning to the original premise of cryptocurrency and blockchain: everything should be decentralized.
Decentralization is more than just a buzzword: it makes things more transparent for users, as on-chain transactions are easier to track and audit, and it makes it easier to integrate with other products, creating a level playing field for developers and encouraging innovation.
This is why Coinbase is pivoting to an on-chain product: Base, a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain. It's Coinbase's most ambitious bet on decentralization yet.
It serves as the home for all of Coinbase's on-chain products, but anyone can also build decentralized apps on Base. It's built using open source technology, more precisely, Optimism's OP Stack.
At Coinbase, Pollack has been responsible for the ambitious Base project. Prior to this role, he led all retail engineering at the company and worked on several projects including Coinbase, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Wallet. Prior to joining Coinbase, Pollack worked on Clef, a 2FA mobile app. He began his tech career as a software engineering intern at BuzzFeed.
He shares why Coinbase is stepping out of its comfort zone and betting on the protocol. TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 will take place in San Francisco from October 28-30. Buy your ticket now to join the conversation about what it's like to build a layer-2 blockchain and why decentralization matters.