$BASE would likely trade $3.9B - $7.3B FDV if valued at $ARB, $OP or $LINEA FDV/TVL multiples.

That puts it far below $AVAX (~$14B), Hedera (~$12B), BCH (~$11B), $IP, $ENA, $UNI and others.

Even with Base posting the highest L2 chain revenue ($5M last month vs $1.6M for Arbitrum), it’s not enough to command a big premium.

If Base was an L1, valuation would be way higher. But they’ve been clear: Ethereum alignment is their priority.

Clearly, L2 tokens are cooked.

Where Base can stand out is the ecosystem moat:

• Coinbase funnel → Base DEXs integrated in CEX app, staking + compliance premium

• Wrappers → cbBTC today, potential wrapped XRP, LTC, etc.

• Base Wallet + creator economy

• Push into payments (could justify a premium if real volume comes)

• Apps like Farcaster, Zora building natively

But Linea is a lesson:

Even with Metamask's (still) big adoption, Consensys support + mUSD stablecoin, it barely trades above $2B FDV.

So Base’s mission isn’t just launching a token.

It’s breaking the L2 token current valuation models and finding a fresh narrative that would lift all L2 tokens: $ARB, $OP (where it still shares fees as part of OP Stack), or $LINEA.

Will be interesting to see if Base can spin a bullish story the market buys.