Jesse Pollak, the architect behind the Layer 2 network Base, has stepped down from his leadership role, admitting that his strategy aimed at social services and applications was unsuccessful. The Coinbase team will now take charge of the project's development.
Pollak noted on social media, "lots of conversations about Base over the last week. I wanted to share my candid take after a week of listening and a lot of reflection over the last 6 months." He described the first quarter of 2026 as a "punch in the face," acknowledging the problems faced by Base.
He confessed, "I was definitely wrong. I don’t know if the issue was just timing or the idea itself. [...] I long believed that only social products could bring a billion users to the crypto industry. Now I am convinced that is not the case," indicating a significant shift in his perspective.
Pollak highlighted that initiatives within the Farcaster ecosystem, Zora, and content creator tokens had "completely fallen apart," while the areas where Base had hoped to thrive—such as prediction markets and stablecoins—had seen more growth elsewhere. For instance, in July, Limitless, a betting platform, accounted for just 0.5% of the total volume in prediction markets, and Avantis ranked 18th in trading volume, according to DefiLlama.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong echoed Pollak's sentiments, admitting that their initial investment in content creation infrastructure did not yield results. He stated, "We messed up, time to turn the page," while also emphasizing Base's ongoing focus on trading, payments, and AI agents.
