Let’s face it, nothing gets the internet more excited than calling something “dead.” Just ask email, which everyone said was dead a few years ago. Or blogs? Now it's NFTs turn, right? Wrong. Base’s Onchain Summer isn’t just a flash in the pan. It’s a neon sign yelling that NFTs are changing, not dying. And frankly, if you’re still out here believing that NFTs are just expensive JPEGs of monkeys, you don’t know what in the hell you’re talking about. That’s as absurd as arguing that smartphones should only be used to make phone calls.
NFTs Are Transforming, Not Disappearing
The old NFT world? Static. Expensive. A bunch of guys flexing digital rocks. Base? It's building an arcade. Think about it: Atari classics, resurrected on the blockchain in the Onchain Arcade. Remember spending hours glued to those games? And now for the first time you can truly own a piece of that experience, a digital collectible that’s much more than just a JPEG. It’s a ticket to ride, it’s a key to a community, it’s a stake in the game, quite literally.
This isn't your dad's NFT collection. A new generation is getting their first taste of what’s possible through true digital ownership. They’re not just theorizing, but immersing themselves in real-world experiences. Base understands this. They're not just throwing money at DeFi. They're building a playground for developers to create engaging, useful applications. The truth is that more than 60% of all the apps on Base are not even DeFi related! That's a huge shift.
The Onchain Summer campaign wasn’t just about showering developers with ETH. Seriously, let’s face it—600 ETH is no small sum! It wasn’t just seeding companies, it was about creating an ecosystem, a self-sustaining engine of innovation. Providing gas credits helped lower the barrier to entry and allowed developers to experiment more easily and cost-effectively. It worked directly with name-brand celebrities, lending immediate clout to the projects.
Old Guard Misses the Point Completely
I know what you’re thinking – another one of those “NFTs are dead” takes from the people that, frankly, had NFTs figured out 5 years ago. What they’re really doing is using the hysteria that surrounded the Beanie Baby boom of 2021 to write off the whole digital collectible space as a flop. It would be like calling the entire internet a failure because Pets.com went out of business.
Here's the truth: the initial NFT boom was fueled by hype and speculation. A lot of people got burned. That doesn’t mean the underlying technology isn’t valuable. It means we learned some hard lessons. What we learned was that utility, community and genuine fun absolutely trump scarcity and FOMO.
Base is betting on that. They’re making a bet that NFT holders are looking to do more with their NFTs than just use them as digital wall art. They’re placing their bets on new frontiers like gaming, social apps, and digital collectibles being the drivers of that future blockchain. And honestly, I think they're right. Reducing the average transaction fee by over 95% works to democratize this space. You don’t have to be a millionaire to play these days.
Evolving Use Cases Will Drive Adoption
In just a few short months, transactional stablecoin transfer volume on Base has taken off, including a whopping 9,800% year-to-date increase. Why? Because it's becoming a real, usable platform. The coolest thing, to me, is that people are using Base for regular transactions and not just gambling on tokens. This is a critical difference.
Think about the possibilities: in-game items that you actually own, digital art that you can display and interact with, social media profiles that are truly decentralized. These are the types of experiences that will lead to mass adoption. And these are the precise types of experiences that Base is out there creating.
Coinbase’s marketing muscle It’s been a big factor, as well. They're not just promoting Base to crypto enthusiasts. They're introducing it to a whole new audience of potential users. They're democratizing blockchain.
So, is Base perfect? Absolutely not. It’s still early days in the space, and we have a lot of work to do. The Onchain Summer proved one thing: NFTs aren't dead. They're just getting started. Trust us, if you’re sleeping on this one, you’ll be blown away. Otherwise, you will be the last guy still using a flip phone while everyone else is busy creating the future. You’re gonna be the “ok boomer” of the blockchain. Don't be that guy.
