Base, Coinbase’s Layer 2 solution, is making serious waves in the blockchain world. But the real action? It’s happening one level up, with a new generation of Layer 3 protocols and DApps that are stacking innovation on top of Base’s lightning-fast, low-fee infrastructure. If you’re tracking where the smart money and creative devs are headed in late 2025, look no further than these projects pushing the boundaries of what’s possible on-chain.
Why Layer 3? Unlocking Real Utility on Base
Layer 2s like Base have already solved a huge chunk of Ethereum’s scaling woes. But as user demand and developer creativity skyrocket, Layer 3 solutions are stepping in to deliver specialized features: think cross-chain interoperability, privacy enhancements, and application-specific optimizations. Instead of reinventing the wheel, these projects leverage Base’s rock-solid foundation to ship faster and cheaper, with all the composability you’d expect from an EVM ecosystem.
The following seven protocols aren’t just riding Base’s coattails; they’re actively shaping its future. From DeFi powerhouses to social media disruptors and collaborative art experiments, this list spotlights the most exciting Layer 3s you need to watch right now.
Top Layer 3 Solutions on Base You Should Know
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Aevo: A leading decentralized derivatives exchange built atop Base, Aevo offers advanced perpetual and options trading with lightning-fast execution and low fees. Its Layer 3 architecture leverages Base’s scalability to deliver a seamless trading experience for both retail and institutional users.
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Friend.tech: This social DeFi platform enables users to tokenize and trade social connections as shares. Friend.tech leverages Base’s infrastructure to provide fast, low-cost transactions, powering a new wave of creator monetization and community engagement.
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Onchain Summer by Coinbase: An annual on-chain event series hosted by Coinbase, Onchain Summer showcases innovative DApps and NFT drops built on Base. It brings together creators, developers, and users to celebrate and explore the possibilities of Layer 3 protocols.
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BasePaint: A collaborative on-chain art platform where users co-create digital artwork pixel by pixel. Built on Base, BasePaint demonstrates the creative potential of Layer 3 by enabling real-time, low-fee participation in community art projects.
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Blackbird Protocol: This web3 loyalty and rewards protocol empowers restaurants and hospitality brands to create on-chain loyalty programs. By leveraging Base’s Layer 3 capabilities, Blackbird streamlines rewards distribution and user engagement.
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Seamless Protocol: A next-generation DeFi lending and borrowing platform on Base, Seamless Protocol utilizes Layer 3 features for enhanced composability, security, and efficiency. It supports a wide range of digital assets and offers innovative risk management tools.
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Avantis: Avantis is a decentralized prediction markets platform powered by Base. It enables users to create and participate in markets on real-world events, leveraging Layer 3’s low fees and fast settlement for a smooth, trustless experience.
1. Aevo: Derivatives Trading at Warp Speed
Aevo is a high-performance derivatives DEX that takes full advantage of Base’s throughput for ultra-fast options and perpetual swaps trading. With a sleek UI built for both pros and degen traders alike, Aevo delivers deep liquidity without sacrificing decentralization or custody. Its order book model competes with centralized exchanges while keeping settlement trustless, a game-changer for anyone seeking exposure to crypto volatility without leaving the on-chain world.
2. Friend. tech: Social Finance Reimagined
If you’ve seen your favorite crypto influencer shill their “shares, ” chances are they’re using Friend. tech. This platform lets users tokenize their social presence, buy or sell access to private chats with creators directly on Base. The result? A new kind of social market where attention is liquid and communities form around shared incentives rather than algorithms. Friend. tech has exploded in popularity since its launch thanks to ultra-low gas fees and seamless onboarding via Coinbase wallets.
3. Onchain Summer by Coinbase: The Cultural Onramp
Onchain Summer, launched by Coinbase itself, isn’t just a campaign, it’s an ongoing festival of art drops, NFT collaborations, hackathons, and live events that showcase what’s possible when culture meets code. By leveraging Base as its backbone for distribution and settlement, Onchain Summer has become ground zero for artists looking to reach new audiences without battling Ethereum mainnet congestion or sky-high fees.
This initiative has already brought thousands of creators into Web3 while giving collectors a taste of next-gen digital ownership experiences, all powered by frictionless transactions on Base.
4. BasePaint: Collaborative Art, On-Chain
BasePaint is a wild experiment in decentralized creativity. Every day, users come together to co-create a single digital canvas, one pixel at a time, using Base’s near-zero fees to draw, erase, and remix in real time. The finished artwork gets minted as an NFT, with contributors sharing ownership and potential rewards. It’s not just about art; it’s a proof-of-concept for how microtransactions and collective action can thrive on Layer 3 infrastructure.
By eliminating prohibitive gas costs, BasePaint has unlocked new forms of social gaming and collaborative expression that simply weren’t possible on earlier chains. If you want to see the power of community-driven culture in action, this is the project to watch.
5. Blackbird Protocol: Loyalty and Rewards Reinvented
Forget punch cards and siloed loyalty apps provides Blackbird Protocol is building the next evolution of rewards on-chain. By leveraging Base’s fast settlement layer, Blackbird lets businesses issue programmable loyalty tokens that can be earned, traded, or redeemed across a growing ecosystem of merchants. Think Starbucks points with DeFi composability: users can stake their rewards for yield or swap them for other perks instantly.
This protocol is quietly onboarding mainstream brands into Web3 by abstracting away blockchain complexity while delivering tangible value to end users. As more retailers get onboard, Blackbird could become the backbone of digital loyalty economies on Base.
6. Seamless Protocol: DeFi Lending Without Friction
Seamless Protocol lives up to its name by offering permissionless money markets optimized for Base’s ultra-low latency environment. Users can supply assets for yield or borrow against their holdings with instant settlement and transparent risk parameters, all without the bloat or complexity of legacy lending platforms.
The protocol leverages Layer 3 customizability to introduce features like isolated lending pools and dynamic collateral factors that adapt in real time to market conditions. For both degens and institutions seeking capital efficiency without compromising security, Seamless is quickly becoming a core money lego atop Base.
7. Avantis: Next-Gen Structured Products
If you’re craving more sophisticated financial instruments on-chain, Avantis delivers with structured products built natively atop Base’s Layer 3 stack. Avantis packages DeFi primitives into easy-to-use vaults, think auto-rebalancing strategies or principal-protected notes, so users can access advanced yield opportunities without needing a quant background.
This approach democratizes complex trading tools once reserved for hedge funds while leveraging Base’s speed and cost advantages for seamless execution. With risk management baked in at the protocol level, Avantis is setting new standards for what’s possible in permissionless finance.
Top 7 Layer 3 Protocols Thriving on Base
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Aevo: A high-performance derivatives DEX built on Base, Aevo offers advanced trading features for perpetuals and options, leveraging Base’s scalability for low-latency, low-fee trading. Its robust risk engine and deep liquidity pools make it a favorite for serious DeFi traders.
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Friend.tech: The social DeFi platform that lets users tokenize their social presence. Friend.tech runs on Base, enabling creators and fans to trade shares tied to social accounts, blending community engagement with decentralized finance.
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Onchain Summer by Coinbase: Coinbase’s flagship event series and ecosystem campaign, Onchain Summer, showcases the best of Base by launching exclusive NFT drops, community projects, and developer grants, all natively on Base’s Layer 3 infrastructure.
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BasePaint: A collaborative NFT art experiment leveraging Base’s speed and low fees. BasePaint allows users to co-create digital artwork pixel by pixel, with each contribution minted as a unique NFT, embodying the spirit of onchain creativity.
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Blackbird Protocol: A next-gen onchain loyalty and rewards protocol, Blackbird empowers businesses to offer dynamic rewards programs. Built on Base, it provides seamless point accrual and redemption, making loyalty programs interoperable and programmable.
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Seamless Protocol: A decentralized lending and borrowing platform on Base, Seamless Protocol delivers fast, low-cost DeFi services. Users can supply and borrow assets with high efficiency, all secured by Base’s Layer 2 and Layer 3 architecture.
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Avantis: Avantis is a decentralized prediction market platform leveraging Base’s infrastructure. It enables users to create and participate in markets on real-world events, with transparent odds and instant settlement thanks to Base’s high throughput.
The Road Ahead: Why Layer 3s Will Define the Next Crypto Cycle
The rise of these seven protocols signals something bigger than just faster transactions or cheaper swaps, it marks the birth of an application layer where use cases drive adoption rather than speculation alone. With Aevo, Friend. tech, Onchain Summer, BasePaint, Blackbird Protocol, Seamless Protocol, and Avantis, we’re seeing how Layer 3s transform everything from social networks to high finance and collaborative art.
If you’re mapping out your next move in crypto or scouting for projects poised to capture exponential growth as adoption accelerates, keep your eyes glued to the innovations emerging atop Coinbase’s Base chain, and don’t sleep on this new generation of Layer 3 disruptors pushing boundaries every day.
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