Base Creator Jesse Pollak Says Stocks Drive Tokenization Cycle

Jesse Pollak, creator of Base, stated in an interview with The Block at Token2049 in Singapore that the main theme of the next tokenization super cycle is stocks, while USD stablecoins have already been established. If he had to choose another option, he would select non-USD currencies, claiming that the market has underestimated this segment. He also mentioned that demand for USD will remain high, but countries will retain sovereignty over their local currencies, and residents will continue to spend in their local currencies.

Base currently offers 32 stablecoins in 21 currencies, including the Euro, Canadian Dollar, Nigerian Naira, and Indonesian Rupiah. Pollak believes the growth rate of tokenized stocks may surpass that of non-USD stablecoins. He cited a circulating supply that increased from approximately $400 million in September 2025 to $3.3 billion last month, an increase of about eight times.

Coinbase launched tokenized stocks on Base about six weeks ago. Pollak stated that the daily trading volume is around $70 million to $100 million, with 50 stocks currently available, and expected to increase to 250 by the end of October. He listed advantages such as 24/7 trading, instant selling, and on-chain transfers, claiming it allows access to international markets. These figures are derived from the interview and are not based on exchange settlement data.

By 2026, Base will no longer sell general block space and will focus on transactions, payments, and financing, with further expansion planned for 2027. The trading side aims to enable businesses to route orders through simple interfaces or APIs, improving the on-chain operations of decentralized exchanges, proprietary market making, and central limit order books. The payments side is collaborating with Cloudflare, targeting a machine payment capacity of 1 million transactions per second. The financing side will provide easier enterprise interfaces and enhance the efficiency of the chain. Pollak stated that agent-driven payments will span all three areas, and in the next one to two years, financial activities will increasingly be driven by agents, with Base aiming to be the place where these transactions and payments occur.

Pollak also opposed the notion that the closure of Blast and Abstract signifies the end of Layer 2 experiments. He believes Layer 2 needs differentiated products and distribution strategies. The interview did not disclose the list of 250 stocks or the individual circulating volumes of non-USD stablecoins.

This is not a transaction but a public ordering of product routes. The buyers are users and enterprise interfaces trading tokenized stocks on Base and using stablecoins in 21 currencies; the sellers are those who turn stocks and local currency stablecoins into on-chain assets for issuance and market making. The event was driven by the interview at Token2049, not by single-day capital inflows. The beneficiaries are the Base stock products that have already received distribution from Coinbase, with daily trading volumes reported at $70 million to $100 million; the pressured parties are Layer 2s that still rely on general block space as their main income or only deal with USD stablecoins, as Pollak places the next growth segment on stocks and non-USD currencies.

The eightfold increase in circulating supply and daily trading volume are two different metrics. The former refers to the stock from the past 12 months, while the latter pertains to the flow of Coinbase's products on Base over the past six weeks.

Source: Public Information