Esprezzo Blog

Top Base projects and how to track them

Written by Esprezzo Team | August 16, 2024

Base blockchain — the Layer-2 blockchain developed by the Coinbase team — continues to grow, with transactions and active addresses hitting all-time highs last month. With established projects expanding to Base and new projects launching all the time, Base has emerged as a frontrunner among chains.

Whether you’re a builder working on the next killer Base dApp, a champion trying to keep project communities pumped, or are researching new opportunities, staying on top of all that’s happening in this ecosystem can be overwhelming.

Let's look at what types of projects are driving activity on Base, and how you can use automation to stay on top of the activity you care about.

Dispatch: No-code automation for Base

Building on and interacting with projects Base opens up a world of possibilities, but to get and stay ahead, you’ll need tools that can keep up with ecosystem growth and developments.

Dispatch is one of those tools. Dispatch is a no-code automation and alerting platform we’re building, to help you save time and improve outcomes faster.

You can think of Dispatch as an assistant that automatically completes tasks for you when certain things happen on-chain. These “things”, or automation triggers, can include

  • Smart contract activity (event emissions and function calls for key project activity)
  • Wallet activity (balance changes and threshold crossings)

It’s like setting up a simple rule: “When X happens, do Y”.

Some examples of time-saving automations:

  • Send a notification to a team channel when key transactions occur
  • Automatically update your gaming community’s Discord channel when players complete quests or claim rewards
  • Get an email when there’s been a contract ownership and/or admin change
  • Get notified when a new governance proposal is submitted
  • Track and log all NFT mints from your collection in real-time

Let’s take a look at some of the hottest categories and projects being built and used on Base.

Hot projects on Base

The Base ecosystem is thriving, with a diverse range of projects attracting a passionate community. Base’s second annual Onchain Summer Buildathon saw more than 7,500 builders submit over 1,250 projects (winners here). From established DeFi giants to innovative gaming experiences and community-driven DAOs, there’s something for everyone on Base.

Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

DeFi

Between DEXs, yield farming, and lending products, DeFi continues to be a major driver of activity across Web3 networks, including Base. And with interest in meme coins and airdrops not looking like they’ll slow down anytime soon, DEXs continue to be one of the consistently growing project categories on Base.

Whether you’re looking for alpha or tracking platform adoption, let’s look at some notable projects and example events you can monitor.

Top DeFi projects on Base

  • Uniswap V2&V3: A popular decentralized exchange (DEX)
  • Odos: A tool that finds the best price for swapping cryptocurrencies by checking multiple trading platforms at once
  • Aerodrome Finance: A platform where you can swap cryptocurrencies and earn rewards for providing liquidity
  • Sushiswap: Community-driven DEX where you can trade crypto and earn rewards through providing liquidity, trading and staking SUSHI

What to watch in DeFi projects

Here are some smart contract events or functions that could be helpful for tracking trends or spotting opportunities.

For DEXs, it can be helpful to track factory contracts. You can also set up monitoring for specific pool or pair activity:

  • New pool creations
  • Fee updates
  • Pool or contract ownership changes
  • Order fills and cancellations
  • Swaps
  • Liquidity additions or removals
  • Vesting activity

Gaming

According to DappRadar’s Q2 report, the gaming sector continues to grow. Two new Base games saw more than 300K unique active wallets (UAW) in the last 30 days, indicating strong interest in gaming on Base.

Top gaming projects

  • BLOCKLORDS Dynasty: Medieval strategy game where players build and grow their own dynasties
  • Super Champs: Mobile game where you play as a superhero and battle it out with other players
  • KGeN: Platform where gamers can own and control their gaming data
  • Frenpet: Free-to-play mobile game where you raise a virtual pet for a share of the game’s ETH pool

What to watch in gaming

If you’re building or running a game on Base, here are some key smart contract events to keep an eye on:

  • Quests or battles starting and ending: Track player engagement and progression
  • Avatar upgrades: Monitor player investment and customization
  • Rewards distributions: Understand player incentives and token distributions
  • Token redemptions: Gauge player activity and in-game economy health

If you have a wallet dedicated to paying player rewards, you might also set an alert to make sure the wallet balance doesn’t go below a certain threshold.

If you’re a player, you might track rewards paid by a game over time, to determine whether the game is worth your time.

DAOs and governance

While gaming is making waves, another sector gaining momentum on Base is Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). These projects are redefining governance (how decisions are made and resources are managed).

Top DAO & governance projects

  • Friends with Benefits (FWB): A community of creatives and builders
  • PartyDAO: A group chat with a shared wallet that lets you launch projects, invest, or create NFTs
  • Based Nouns: A community-owned NFT collection, where you can buy, sell, and influence the project’s direction

What to watch in DAOs and governance

If you’re involved with a DAO project on Base, some key smart contract activity to monitor:

  • Proposal lifecycle: Track the creation and execution of proposals
  • Governance participation: Monitor voting and delegation activity to gauge community engagement
  • Treasury management: Keep an eye on treasury activity like unexpected spending or balance falling below a certain amount
  • Role and permission changes: Watch for changes in contract access and control

If there is a treasury or team wallet (multisig or not), you may also want to track treasury spending, to make sure no unexpected outflows are happening.

Social

The Social sector grew 66% — to 1.9 million daily unique active wallets — more than any other in Q2, according to DappRadar. From presenting decentralized, privacy-oriented alternatives to Web2, or integrating quests and rewards into social, Web3 social platforms are creating new ways for communities to engage and connect with each other.

Top social projects on Base

  • Dmail network: A platform for sending and receiving encrypted emails
  • Layer3: A Web3 platform that connects different blockchains and uses CUBES, digital badges, to reward user activity
  • Base Name Service: A naming system that simplifies long wallet addresses into simple, memorable names

What to watch for in social projects

If you’re building a social dApp on Base, you might want to consider monitoring these events:

  • New account creations: Keep track of when new users join your platform
  • New follows and likes: Monitor social interactions within your dApp
  • Quest completions: Track when users complete quests to measure engagement levels

Additional considerations for domain services like Base Name Service:

  • New domain registrations: Stay updated on new domain registrations
  • Domain transfers or sales: Watch for domain sales and transfers to get insights into market trends
  • Domain expiration and renewal activities: Keep an eye on expiration and renewals so you don’t lose access to your domain name

See how Base Name Service uses Dispatch → How Base Name Service improved response time with Dispatch

Wallets

As digital assets become a bigger part of our lives, keeping an eye on wallet activity gets more important.

Top wallets on Base

  • Coinbase Wallet: Self-custody wallet for storing and managing your crypto
  • Brave Wallet: Secure browser-based wallet for interacting with dApps
  • BitGet Wallet: Versatile wallet for buying, selling, storing, and transferring crypto

What to watch in wallets

  • New wallet creations: Track creation of new wallets to gauge user adoption and growth
  • Balance changes: Manage funds more efficiently and quickly respond to unexpected transactions

Want to track balance changes? Check out our popular templates for easy monitoring:

Marketplaces

Base is a home to a growing ecosystem of marketplaces where you can discover, buy, and sell digital assets.

Top marketplaces on Base

  • Sound.xyz: Where music meets NFTs
  • OpenSea: The leading marketplace for digital collectibles
  • Ultimate Champions: Free-to-play fantasy sports platform where players can collect and compete with officially licensed NFT player cards

What to watch in marketplaces

  • Purchases and sales: Track new transactions to stay updated on market trends and popular assets
  • New marketplace items added: Monitor addition of new items to catch opportunities
  • Contract updates: Stay updated on contract changes or upgrades that could impact the security and functionality of marketplace interactions

NFT projects

NFT projects on Base are pushing the boundaries of digital ownership and creativity, enabling unique experiences for traders and holders.

Top NFT projects on Base

What to watch in NFT projects

To stay informed and ahead in the NFT space, you might want to keep an eye on these key activities:

  • New mints and burns: Track the registration and destruction of NFTs
  • Metadata updates: Monitor changes in NFT contract functions
  • Transfers: Follow the movement of NFTs between wallets

Airdrops and memecoins

If you’re active in the crypto space, you’ve probably encountered or even participated in airdrops and memecoins, which have become a major trend in the industry. Staying on top of new airdrops and standout memecoins can give you an edge in identifying opportunities and staying ahead of market shifts.

Popular memecoins on Base

Key events you can monitor

  • New token airdrops
  • New mints
  • When liquidity is added
  • Swaps and transfers

Security

No matter what kinds of projects you’re building or interacting with on any blockchain, security is a top concern. Monitoring smart contracts and wallets for unexpected activity can go a long way to help you frontrun potential security threats, and give you peace of mind.

Security-related activity to look for

  • Unexpected owner or admin changes: Spot when someone tries to take over
  • Unexpected pausing and unpausing of contracts: Identify unusual contract behavior
  • Roles revoked or granted: Keep tabs on who has access
  • Unexpected contract upgrades: Detect unauthorized code changes

Related: 8 blockchain security monitoring tools you need

Summary

Base is rapidly establishing itself as a major player in Web3. With its low fees, fast speeds, and easy on-ramp from Coinbase, it’s attracting builders and communities alike.

As we’ve seen from the various sectors explored — including DeFi, gaming, DAOs, and more — there’s a great amount of creativity and potential being unlocked on Base. As Base continues to grow, we’re excited to see what new ideas and developments will emerge next. It’s clear that builders on Base are just getting started, and we look forward to the wave of new projects you’ll bring to this ecosystem.

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