Last year, Coinbase launched Base, its own layer-2 blockchain. It’s an ambitious project that could profoundly change not only Coinbase, but also the entire cryptocurrency industry. That’s why we’re excited to invite Jesse Pollak to TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. He’s head of protocols at Coinbase. And more importantly, he’s also the creator of Base.
When Coinbase participated in Y Combinator’s startup acceleration program, the company wanted to become the easiest and most secure service to buy, sell, send and receive bitcoins. And over the past 12 years, the company has grown tremendously — just like the crypto industry — to become one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and one of the most influential tech companies.
But, as the crypto space is maturing, many companies are going back to the original premise of cryptocurrencies and blockchains: Everything should be decentralized.
Decentralization isn’t just a buzzword. It means that things are more transparent for users as on-chain transactions can more easily be tracked and audited. It also creates a level playing field for developers, as they can more easily integrate with other products; it fosters innovation.
That’s why Coinbase is pivoting to on-chain products. Base is a secure, low-cost and developer-friendly Ethereum layer-2 blockchain. It could be considered as Coinbase’s most ambitious bet on decentralization.
It serves as the home for all of Coinbase’s on-chain products but anyone can also build decentralized apps on Base. It is built using open-source technology, and more precisely Optimism’s OP Stack.
Pollak has been in charge of the ambitious Base project at Coinbase. Before this role, he previously led all retail engineering at the company and worked on several projects, such as Coinbase, Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Wallet. Before joining Coinbase, Pollak worked on Clef, a 2FA mobile app. He started his tech career as a software engineering intern at BuzzFeed.
He will tell us why Coinbase is moving outside of its comfort zone and betting on protocols. TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 takes place on October 28-30 in San Francisco. You can buy tickers right now and join us for this conversation on what it’s like to build a layer-2 blockchain and why decentralization matters.
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