David Edwards
Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-2 network, Base, experienced a significant surge in transaction throughput on May 29, momentarily achieving 959 transactions per second (TPS) during the launch of the Virtuals AI platform. This peak performance brought Base closer to Solana’s current throughput of approximately 1,039 TPS.
The spike in Base’s TPS was primarily driven by the token launch of “Solace,” an AI companion developed by Virtuals. On May 28, the Virtuals Protocol generated over $60,000 in fees on Base, compared to just $4,000 on Solana.
Despite this temporary increase, Base’s real-time TPS has stabilized around 156, with Basescan reporting a current TPS of 137. These fluctuations are often attributed to token launches and memecoin trading activities on the network.
In terms of decentralized finance (DeFi) metrics, Base has solidified its position as the leading rollup-based Layer-2 network, boasting a total value locked (TVL) of $15.3 billion, surpassing both Arbitrum One and the OP Mainnet. Its DeFi-derived TVL stands at $3.75 billion, nearing its all-time high.
Conversely, Solana maintains a higher DeFi TVL of $9 billion, although this figure has declined by 18% from its January peak of $11 billion, which was largely driven by memecoin trading.
While Ethereum continues to lead the DeFi space with nearly $63 billion in TVL, its transaction throughput remains lower, and fees are higher compared to both Base and Solana.
