American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is launching its own cross-chain bridge dubbed Base as the company seeks new ways to diversify its revenue streams.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to get daily short digests about events that shape the crypto world
In a blog post, the US-based exchange said the network built on the Optimism sidechain is currently in the testnet mode only. As part of the initiative, Coinbase has also become Optimism's core developer and will work together with the Optimism team on the open source OP Stack.
Although there are no technical details about the new product, Coinbase plans to share its roadmap to mainnet in the weeks ahead. The full rollup is scheduled for 2024.
In addition to the cross-chain bridge, Coinbase also revealed a new venture called the Base Ecosystem Fund, focused on backing early stage startups building on Base. The exchange said the ideal project should be built exclusively for Base by developers who have not yet launched their protocol on other networks.
Amid the news, Optimism's native token OP jumped 18% to $2.9, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Access more than 50 of the world's financial markets directly from your EXANTE account – including NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange and Tokyo Stock Exchange