Base, one of the recently launched layer-2 networks, is gaining strong traction despite the crypto winter. According to DeFi Llama, the total value locked (TVL) in its ecosystem has surged to over $420 million, making it the 10th largest chain in the world, surpassing established ones such as Cardano, Fantom, Klaytn and Algorand.

Base has attracted more than 100 DeFi applications, with Aerodrome being the largest. It is currently worth over $121 million. Other popular DeFi apps in the Base ecosystem are friend.tech, Compoind, Curve DEX, Stargate and Beefy.

Base is a layer-2 network that enables developers to construct decentralised applications (dApps). It’s used to build applications in multiple industries, such as gaming, social media and infrastructure.

The layer-2 network is designed to improve the performance of applications by reducing transaction costs and boosting speeds. It is capable of handling up to 10,000 transactions per second (tps) at lower costs, competing with Optimism, Polygon and Arbitrum.

Recently, Base also released Pessimism, an open-source monitoring system for security purposes. It quickly detects and responds to potential threats to the Base, OP Stack and Ethereal ecosystems.