Phantom wallet goes live on Base blockchain

Phantom Wallet has expanded to Coinbase-developed Ethereum layer-2 network Base as a part of its multi-chain expansion plans.

After rolling out beta support for Base last month, Phantom announced on Nov. 25 that the integration is now live, enabling all users to interact with the Base ecosystem.

The latest expansion is significant as Base is currently the largest Layer 2 blockchain by total value locked and the sixth largest among all blockchains. 

With the latest integration, Phantom users will be able to buy ether and USDC on Base and swap tokens across Base, Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon using debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, or Coinbase.

Further, users are able to interact with decentralized applications and non-fungible tokens across the base ecosystem through compatibility with ledger devices, automatic spam detection for malicious NFTs and tokens, and transaction simulation to flag suspicious activities.

The expansion follows the wallet provider’s recent acquisition of web3 security platform Blowfish. As reported by crypto.news, Blowfish has been incorporated into Phantom to enhance protection against harmful dapps and bugs, utilizing its technology, which has successfully prevented over 2.8 million scams.

Meanwhile, Phantom has experienced some technical hiccups over the past months. On Nov. 13, an update introduced a glitch for some iOS users, locking them out of their accounts. The bug reset wallets and prompted users to re-enter their recovery phrases. Several users reported losses, including one who claimed to have lost $600,000.

Yet the wallet has seen increased demand amid the ongoing memecoin craze, which has driven retail investors toward decentralized trading platforms. Phantom recently surged past Coinbase in Apple’s U.S. App Store rankings.

The memecoin frenzy has particularly attracted new traders to decentralized wallets like Phantom, which, despite being less beginner-friendly than centralized exchanges, offer access to meme coin markets on decentralized exchanges.

Phantom’s recent integration with Base, combined with the rising popularity of platforms like Clanker—an AI-driven token bot designed for deploying meme coins on Base—could spark an Ethereum (ETH) “memecoin mania,” according to Bankless co-founder Ryan Sean Adams.