# Crypto moves beyond speculation as Base focuses on trading, payments and lending

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/insights/45926
Published: 2026-11-01T15:40:42.000Z
Updated: 2026-11-01T15:40:42.000Z
Section: Insights & Views

> Base creator Jesse Pollock says crypto has found practical demand beyond speculation, shaping its focus on trading, payments, lending and AI agents.

Crypto has found practical demand in financial services, with Base focusing on trading, payments, lending and support for AI agents, according to Jesse Pollock, creator of Base at Coinbase.

His assessment places blockchain infrastructure at the center of crypto’s expansion beyond speculation and stores of value. Low-cost financial services available globally, alongside AI agents that can manage money, underpin that shift.

In a November 1 interview with The Wolf of All Streets, Pollock said crypto had found product-market fit beyond Bitcoin’s store-of-value role over the past 18 months. He identified trading, payments and financing as areas where financial services were attracting practical demand.

Pollock described blockchain as fast, inexpensive financial infrastructure that anyone can build on and access globally. He said those characteristics make it easier to establish financial businesses, improve margins and offer customers better products.

Base has narrowed its priorities around that demand, he said. Its focus includes trading major cryptocurrencies, tokenized equities and currencies; enabling global payments through stablecoins; and providing borrowing, lending and credit services. Pollock said Base had launched tokenized equities.

As evidence of that activity, Pollock said Base had surpassed $6 billion in total value locked, overtaking Solana. He also claimed it handled more USDC volume for money movement than any other blockchain and had become the second-largest financing marketplace after Ethereum.

AI agents would increasingly carry out those financial activities, Pollock said. Consumers could delegate everyday money management, while businesses could use agents to optimize yields, treasury operations and money movement. He said Base aims to provide infrastructure for agents to trade, make payments and access financing.

The strategy grew out of an effort to move Coinbase’s existing business onto blockchain infrastructure, he explained. After several unsuccessful experiments, Pollock and a colleague concluded they needed a fast, inexpensive and trustworthy platform on which to build. They built a chain in a week, followed by Base’s testnet launch in February 2023 and mainnet launch in August 2023.

Pollock said the focus now is on attracting more customers building financial services and expanding Base’s economy to meet demand for assets, liquidity and access. He framed growth around supporting businesses that use crypto technology to solve financial problems.