Vitalik Buterin takes shot at Coinbase’s corporate control of Base which dominates 60% of layer 2 income

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has signaled a fundamental shift in the blockchain’s roadmap that declares the era of the “branded shard” effectively over. On Feb. 3, Buterin argued that the industry’s previous “rollup-centric” vision no longer makes sense, citing faster scaling on the main Ethereum layer and the sluggish pace of decentralization among major rollups. This philosophical correction lands squarely on the Coinbase-backed Base network. Over the past years, the Ethereum layer-2 solution has grown into one of the largest consumer-facing rollups in the crypto ecosystem, with more than $11 billion in total value secured (TVS). However, Buterin's new roadmap position calls into question the validity of Layer-2s that rely on corporate affiliation rather than unique technical utility. As a result, this places significant pressure on Base. It raises the question of whether Ethereum’s evolving definition of “aligned scaling” erodes the Coinbase-backed layer-2 solution's long-term economic edge, particularly the lucrative revenue model tied to centralized sequencing. Related Reading Did Vitalik just pick a side? Inside Ethereum's layer-2 loyalty test Base and Arbitrum earn most profits; where does Polygon fit? Oct 22, 2025 · Gino Matos A massive revenue engine Indeed, Base has been a financial revelation since its launch in August 2023. CryptoSlate previously reported that the network generated more than $75 million in revenue in 2025. This figure accounted for nearly 60% of the revenue of the entire Layer-2 sector that year. Market observers have noted that the disparity between its income and operating costs is the defining feature of its current business model. Notably, data from L2BEAT indicates that Base paid approximately $1.52 million to Ethereum over the last year to post transaction data and cover settlement overhead. This averages approximately $4.180 per day, or about $0.000406 per user operation. In exchange for this relatively low rent paid to ...