Jesse Pollak, the creator of Coinbase Base network, has stepped back from leadership of the Base App after conceding that his bet on social experiences as the primary driver of crypto adoption was definitively wrong. He handed control of the consumer application back to Coinbase and gave it to the prominent trader known as Cobie.
Pollaks admission marks a significant strategic shift for Base, which had positioned itself as a platform for on-chain social applications and creator coins. The network invested heavily in social features, but the expected wave of adoption failed to materialize as users gravitated toward trading, payments, and AI agent applications instead.
In his announcement, Pollak said he is refocusing his efforts on building Base into the blockchain for global finance, highlighting trading, stablecoin payments, tokenization, and AI agents as the key growth areas. The pivot represents a return to the core value propositions that have driven adoption on Ethereum layer-2 networks more broadly.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong separately acknowledged that Bases content coins did not work, confirming that the company had pivoted away from creator tokens early in 2026. However, he pushed back against criticism that focusing on AI agents is a mistake, arguing that the technology represents a natural evolution for the platform.
Base remains the largest Ethereum layer-2 network by several metrics, including total value locked and daily active users, despite lagging in specific verticals like prediction markets and perpetual futures trading. The network has been gaining ground in these areas through integrations with platforms like Uniswap and through the growth of Robinhood Chain, which operates as an Arbitrum-based L2 competing in similar use cases.
This article was adapted from Cointelegraph. Read the original here.
