Where Does Base Stand in Comparison to Well-Established Cardano?

Over the course of the past year, Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem has witnessed impressive progress in terms of expansion and development. Despite periods of ADA’s decline, the ecosystem has consistently achieved new record highs in Total Value Locked (TVL), showcasing its resilience and growth.

Nonetheless, there seems to be a decline in momentum for Cardano, as the recently launched Base Chain network has managed to outshine the Proof-of-Stake network, even though it has been operational for only a few weeks. This development is significant given the latter’s considerable head start.

Since its launch on August 9th, 2023, Base has experienced a lack of activity, drawing the interest of notable figures within the mainstream industry, including major players like Coca-Cola.

Within a mere span of two weeks, Base Chain has achieved a remarkable milestone of surpassing 1 Million users, with an impressive daily average of 100,000 active users. Its rapid and substantial expansion has propelled it to outshine the well-established Cardano in various aspects such as Total Value Locked (TVL), overall protocols, and more.

Currently, Cardano’s DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL) is at $160 Million, positioning it at the 14th spot in the overall rankings. In contrast, Base has achieved a TVL of $184 Million, securing the 12th position.

Surprisingly, despite Cardano’s initial advantage, the DeFi ecosystem of Base has expanded significantly, becoming four times larger. The chain now hosts an impressive 79 protocols, while Cardano’s ecosystem includes a rather modest 24 protocols.

The recently introduced Layer-2 network surpasses Cardano’s user count of 36,000. This number stays way behind the users on Coinbase’s L2 scaling solution. Adding to the list of accomplishments, it has outpaced Cardano in various aspects.

In a span of only two weeks, Base has also excelled in network activity, completing more transactions during its initial week than Cardano does in a full month.

Cardano adopts a highly methodical strategy for its ecosystem due to the distinctive nature of its Proof-of-Stake chain. This uniqueness sets it apart from the majority of blockchains, rendering it less compatible with the majority of DeFi projects built on top of Ethereum. The network operates with a distinct smart contract environment, transaction model, and signature scheme, making cross-communication with other blockchain networks in the industry notably challenging.

In contrast, the Base Chain operates as a Layer-2 chain built on the Ethereum network, allowing it to be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This compatibility provides Base Chain access to a wider array of well-established DeFi Protocols such as UniSwap, SushiSwap, Stargate, and various others that have already firmly established their presence in the industry.

Despite its limited interoperability and protocol offerings, Cardano’s DeFi Total Value Locked (TVL) reached its peak at $200 Million this year, which pushed it into the top 15 rankings. However, since the market-wide flash crash on August 16th, when ADA experienced a significant 18% drop, its DeFi TVL has seen a substantial decrease.

Compounding the situation is the prevailing bearish market atmosphere, which has sparked an exodus of investors and a significant drop in Cardano’s Daily Active Addresses and network activity. This trend has resulted in further challenges for the network.

However, it’s crucial to note that its Total Value Locked (TVL) measured in ADA remains at a record high, surpassing 600 Million ADA. If Cardano’s price manages to rebound to its pre-market crash value of $0.31, its DeFi TVL could climb to $186 Million, surpassing that of Base Chain.