Base, the layer-2 scaling solution by Coinbase, has seen remarkable growth this year, surpassing its peers. DeFiLlama data reveals Base's Total Value Locked at an all-time high of $1.784 billion, with a milestone hit in March at $1 billion.

Base vs. Optimism

Despite being newer, Base has outpaced Optimism, with a TVL of $1.78 billion compared to Optimism's $878.62 million. Aerodrome is the largest application on Base with a TVL of $712 million, and Uniswap's TVL on Base is $314 million. The OP Stack ecosystem, which includes Base and Optimism, showcases growth in various DeFi, gaming, and media protocols.

Base's success is marred by criticism for network congestion and security vulnerabilities, exemplified by recent attacks like the $20 million exploit on Sonne Finance. Despite challenges, Base continues to lead in growth among layer-2 protocols.