Back in 2024, it all seemed so promising. Coinbase would use its app called Base, built around its blockchain of the same name, to build a decentralized trading and social media platform. It didn’t work out that way. The original vision for Base is in tatters and much of the project now looks like a costly distraction that has embittered numerous users, and forced Coinbase to play catch-up to ascendant crypto powerhouses like Hyperliquid and Robinhood.
How did this happen? In a remarkably candid X post, the Coinbase executive who leads Base, Jesse Pollak, admitted that trying to turn the app into a social media forum—one where everyone sold “creator coins” tied to the content they posted—was a mistake. It turned out few people wanted to drop X and Instagram for a crypto-based alternative.
It didn’t help that Coinbase at times appeared to have its thumb on the scale, favoring people and projects from its own network, which let a chosen few cash in at the expense of other users and developers. Finally, there was the matter of Pollak himself, whose hyperactive social posts could come across as cringe, leaving many, including some inside Coinbase, to see him as high on his own supply.
In his mea culpa post, Pollak owned his failings, but also noted that it’s tough to “build a decentralized blockchain inside of a big centralized public company.” The comment underscores how, even though Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remains a true crypto believer, he also must contend with quarterly earnings reports and impatient shareholders. This means building a major decentralized project under the Coinbase corporate umbrella was always going to have a short leash.
