Why did Jesse Pollak say Base fell behind?

Jesse Pollak said Base focused on social applications while prediction markets and perpetual futures grew rapidly. He believes the network was late to those sectors.

What are prediction markets?

Prediction markets let users trade contracts based on the outcome of future events. They have become a fast-growing part of the crypto industry.

What are perpetual futures?

Perpetual futures are crypto derivatives that let traders speculate on asset prices without an expiry date. They are widely used in decentralised finance.

Base is an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase. It is designed to make blockchain applications faster and cheaper to use.

What is Base planning next?

Pollak said Base will continue expanding beyond social applications by supporting more trading, payments and decentralised finance projects.

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Pollak says Base missed crypto trading boom

Written by Liezl GambePublished Jul 16, 2026, 1:53 AM

Base failed to capture early growth in prediction markets and perpetual futures, Jesse Pollak said.
The network focused more on social applications than trading.
Pollak said Base is now working to expand across more crypto sectors.

Base creator Jesse Pollak said the Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) layer-2 network was slow to capitalise on the rapid growth of prediction markets and perpetual futures trading.

Pollak said Base initially focused on building social applications, leaving it behind competitors in two of crypto's fastest-growing sectors.

“We were too early on social and too late on prediction markets and perps,” Pollak said.

He said Base is now working to support a broader range of decentralised applications, including trading, payments and on-chain social platforms.

Prediction markets and perpetual futures have become two of the fastest-growing areas in decentralised finance as users seek more ways to trade digital assets on-chain.

Pollak said the network's next stage of growth will focus on supporting more developers and expanding its range of on-chain financial applications.

At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $1,916.74.