The Protocol: Polymarket Bets Pay Off as Memecoin Memorializes ‘Dwebate’

In
this
week’s
issue
of
The
Protocol,
we’ve
got
the
crypto
angle
on
Tuesday’s
presidential
debate
–
just
as
weird
and
ridiculous
as
you
might
imagine.

Polymarket
bettors
had
an
extra
screen
to
keep
an
eye
on
during
Tuesday’s
debate.
(Sam
Reynolds)

A
recent
chart
from
on-chain
data
provider
Token
Terminal
shows
the
network
accelerating
in
recent
months
while
other
layer
2s
were
experiencing
a
dropoff.
(Token
Terminal)

Among
the
rapidly
growing
ranks
of
layer-2
blockchains
built
atop
Ethereum,
the
U.S.
crypto
exchange
Coinbase’s
own
version,
Base,
hardly
stands
out
as
a
technological
pioneer.
The
entire
project
was
built
and

launched
last
year
using
code
borrowed
from
another
team
–
Optimism,
with
its
OP
Stack
framework
for
easily
spinning
up
new
layer-2
networks.

That’s
partly
why
it’s
so
remarkable
that
Base
has
shot
to
the
No.
2
spot
on
the

key
industry
leaderboard
L2Beat,
with
an
18%
market
share
of
74
active
layer-2
networks.
Top-ranked
Arbitrum’s
Arbitrum
One
dominates
with
a
40%
share,
but
Base
has
shot
past
older,
competing
projects
from
teams
with
hard-fought
reputations
for
cutting-edge
development,
including
Starknet,
Polygon,
even
Optimism
itself.

But
it
turns
out
that
the
race
for
blockchain
supremacy,
just
as
in
broader
industry,
is
reliant
to
a
large
extent
on
marketing
savvy
and
an
ample
warchest
to
spend
on
attracting
new
customers
–
not
just
whoever
has
the
best
tech.
And
Coinbase
has
helped
to
fuel
Base’s
growth
through
its
own
advertising
campaigns
and
promotional
events,
including
the
recently
concluded
“Onchain
Summer.”

The
question
now
is
whether
the
activity
is
sustainable.
Are
the
accounts
bona
fide
users
with
on-chain
needs,
or
just
a
flurry
of
tire-kicking
beta
testers
curious
to
try
out
the
various
protocols
built
atop
Base?
Are
they
opportunistic
“degen”
crypto
traders
taking
advantage
of
one-time
promotions
and
quests
to
collect
extra
riches,
or
racking
up
usage
in
hopes
of
eventually
collecting
tokens
rewards?

Click
here
for
the
full
story
by
Ian
Allison
and
Bradley
Keoun

Fundraisings

Vibhu
Norby,
CEO
and
co-founder
DRiP
(DRiP)

Top
picks
of
the
past
week
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Protocol
Village

column,
highlighting
key
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and
news.