Understand the innovative potential of Web3.

Use cases, training, change management... All the tools you need to transform your business and innovate with Web3.
What you get when you subscribe
Exclusive content, interviews, reports
Invitations to private and partner events
One column (1000 characters) per year
Access to the Discord community
Access to the Whalee AI assistant
Dedicated space at The Ocean
With its independence and pedagogy, The Big Whale is the most useful tool for Web3 acculturation in-house.

They trust us

la banque postalefrancaise des jeuxswisslifemazarsmazarsmefr logoagricultural creditsociete generale logobanque postale logofdj logoswisslifemazarsmazarsmefr logocredit agricole

Every week, the essential information to follow Web3

The world of cryptocurrencies is constantly evolving... it's often difficult to keep up with it all. We save you time and remind you every week of what you need to remember, nothing more, to make the right decisions.

Every week, the essential information to follow Web3

The world of cryptocurrencies is constantly evolving... it's often difficult to keep up with it all. We save you time and remind you every week of what you need to remember, nothing more, to make the right decisions.
👉
Token2049 expects record-breaking 2024 edition
The TOKEN2049 conference (September 18-19, 2024) will attract 20,000 participants to Singapore this year. An all-time record. The Big Whale will be on hand.
More >
👉
EXCLUSIVE: Former head of Binance France joins Société Générale-Forge
As we revealed, Stéphanie Cabossioras, the former Managing Director of Binance France, has just joined the Société Générale Group's crypto subsidiary.
More >
👉
Ledger Stax: after more than a year's delay, they're here!
The French unicorn has begun delivering to customers who pre-ordered the digital wallet. New orders will open this summer, but at a higher price than the initial 279 euros.
More >
👉
Cross The Ages raises $3.5 million and announces token listing
With this round of funding, the company aims to further develop the brand around the Cross The Ages universe through the release of new Web3 games, as well as a TV series, comic books and a second novel.
More >
👉
Stables: a new shareholder base for new ambitions?
The horse racing game launched by PMU has just opened up its capital to new investors such as Tezos. The aim is to accelerate revenue generation and, according to our information, to raise funds in 2025.
More >
👉
Safe acquires France's Multis
With this acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, the Swiss-based multi-signature wallet provider aims to consolidate its position as market leader.
More >

Get ahead of tomorrow's innovations

We help you position your company, thanks to our exclusive interviews with top leaders and our weekly analysis.
The Big Focus
coinbase layer-2 base
Presented in February and officially launched in August, Base has rapidly established itself as one of the most widely used Ethereum scalability solutions. Let's take a look at the stakes involved in its development.

The Layer 2 war has been raging for several months now, and Coinbase officially entered it on August 9, when its Base scalability solution was deployed on the mainnet.

Beyond the stated goal of onboarding "the next billion users and the next million developers on blockchain", Base has above all enabled Coinbase to find new growth drivers. And from this point of view, the launch has been a success.

In just over 5 months, Base has entered the layer 2 podium in terms of total value tied up (TVL) with just under $400 million, behind Arbitrum ($2.35 billion) and Optimism ($820 million). It even made it into the top 10 for all blockchains combined, according to data aggregated by DeFi Llama.

Base generated over $5 million in revenue from transactions made by the more than 390,000 users, according to data aggregated by asset manager 21Shares on Dune Analytics.

These good figures were largely achieved thanks to the launch last summer of the FriendTech social network, whose temporary frenzy triggered a record number of Base transactions, peaking at 1.8 million on September 14 and 1.4 million on October 2.

But speculation is not the only reason for the success of Coinbase Layer 2. "Base has set up a very comprehensive onboarding system. Unlike other blockchains, it's much easier to deploy there. Thanks to this, they were able to mobilize a sizeable community fairly quickly," remarks Mounir Benchemled, CEO of DEX aggregator ParaSwap, which also deployed on Coinbase layer 2 in September.

A strategic alliance with Optimism

To launch its layer 2, Coinbase has chosen to use OP-Stack, the optimistic roll-up developed by Optimism and launched last June.

"Today, OP-Stack is the most developed layer 2 solution. Optimism also offers the advantage of providing a clearer roadmap than its competitors, and support for more advanced projects", continues Mounir Benchemled. For a company with institutional ambitions like Brian Armstrong's, these arguments are bound to set it apart.

A few weeks after the launch of Base, Coinbase announced that it shared Optimism's vision based on the principles of a "Superchain", a network of interoperable layer 2s.

On August 24, the two companies even announced a revenue-sharing agreement for Base. In return, Coinbase Layer 2 will receive up to 118 million OP tokens (around $250 million at current prices) over a 6-year period, which will enable it to participate in Optimism's governance.

Making the most of your brand

"Even though Base has had an interesting start, in the long term it will have to find differentiating elements compared with other layer 2 solutions," warns Stanislas Barthélémi, head of blockchain & crypto at KPMG.

Base has a potential user base of over 100 million, and the power of a brand that is currently one of the most reassuring on the market in terms of regulation.

"In recent years, Coinbase has spent an enormous amount of money on simplifying its user experience as much as possible, both for its platform and for its various products such as Coinbase Wallet. It could do the same for Base, and thus secure itself some interesting traction," continues Stanislas Barthélémi.

There's no shortage of possibilities, especially since USDC, Circle's stablecoin, has been available natively on Base since early September, i.e. without the need for a bridge. For Stanislas Barthélémi, "this integration opens up a wide range of possibilities for everyday payments and cross-border transactions at lower cost. Coinbase clearly has many levers to pull to make Base viable".

Decentralization in focus

In addition to facilitating access to the blockchain for its users, Coinbase has been hammering home in recent months its desire to decentralize the operation of Base to make it "an open and neutral platform where developers and users can participate freely", explains the company, which for the moment has not revealed a precise timetable.

Once mentioned as a possibility "at some point in the future" by its General Counsel Paul Grewal, the launch of a native token for Base has for the moment been totally ruled out by CEO Brian Armstrong. "We have no plans to create a token for Base," he explained to US media outlet Decrypt in early December.

"It's harder to imagine decentralizing a layer 2 without a token," raises Mounir Benchemled. "A token provides more flexibility to set up governance models or incentives to use the protocol," he adds.

It has to be said that the American environment is not necessarily conducive to such a launch, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) having drastically tightened the regulatory screws on the crypto sector since the fall of FTX. For several months now, the SEC has tended to consider the majority of cryptos or tokens as financial securities. A reclassification that Coinbase wishes to avoid more than anything else.

"Because of this threat and the lack of clarity in the rules, many projects have put their token projects on hold," confides a French entrepreneur who has just spent several months in the United States.

Get ahead of tomorrow's innovations

We help you position your company, thanks to our exclusive interviews with top leaders and our weekly analysis.

Come and meet the Web3 players

We open the doors of the ecosystem to you at our monthly events. Don't miss out on these business opportunities.

Come and meet the Web3 players

Every month, we organize exclusive events bringing together Web3 companies and institutions.
Paris, France
Nov 7, 2024 8:30 PM

The future of the wallet

Come and discover the latest innovations and perspectives that will transform the way we manage, secure and use digital assets.
Paris, France
Oct 3, 2024 8:30 AM

How payment specialists are integrating digital assets

Find out how payment specialists are integrating digital assets at this event organized by The Big Whale media.
Paris, France
Jun 27, 2024 8:30 AM

How do major groups manage their Web3 innovations?

Come and find out how leading companies are managing their Web3 innovations at this exclusive breakfast.
Paris, France
Apr 25, 2024 8:30 AM

AI and Web3: the great convergence

The Big Whale, Caisse des Dépôts and Aleph invite you on April 25, from 8.30am to 11.30am, to a meeting focusing on AI and Web3, to explore how the future of these two technological spheres is interconnected.

An independent media at the service of its community.

Our journalists have been covering Web3 and cryptocurrency news since 2016.
Join the +20,000 readers of The Big Whale
20.000+
Weekly readers
750+
tokens analyzed by Whalee
450+
Companies in The Ocean
1.000+
members on Discord

FAQ_

All about The Big Whale_
Why did we launch The Big Whale?
We are convinced that, in this period of Web3 development, an expert and independent media is essential. Our aim is to provide our readers with clear, value-added information, while enabling them to understand the issues surrounding crypto-currencies. For those wishing to embark on this adventure, The Big Whale is the answer to the question "Where do I start?".
Is The Big Whale really an independent media?
Yes! The Big Whale is owned by its three co-founders, as well as part ofteam and a few minority investors. Find out more. This financial and capital independence is guaranteed by the support of our community of subscribers.
How do I take out a subscription for my company?
To sign up for a subscription for your company, simply contact us via the form. We'll contact you shortly afterwards, and discuss the best offer for you and your staff.