Last summer was particularly hot for the blockchain world. The first Onchain Summer promoted by Base Network brought many artists and developers to web3, along with thousands of collectors and users who could experience the strengths of Ethereum’s new layer 2 firsthand. The initiative’s success led to a second edition, richer and more inclusive than the previous one.
While June’s Onchain Summer was dedicated to builders — those constructing projects, communities, collections, and applications — July will focus entirely on onboarding new users into the global onchain economy through Base Network. With the conclusion of Buildathon subscriptions on June 30th, the focus now shifts to new potential onchainers and how to provide them with the best tools to explore the blockchain universe simply and safely.
Coinbase for Onchain Summer
Base’s stated goal is to bring one billion users onchain, and to achieve this, it has deployed various tools to facilitate the entry of new users into the web3 era. For the “institutional” part, in view of Onchain Summer, Coinbase, the centralized exchange that created layer 2, has decided to actively fuel the onchain economy and support users and creators by providing four supports:
Smart Wallets: Coinbase recently launched Smart Wallet, the simplest digital wallet to create. To set up a Smart Wallet, you only need to create a security key to store on your smartphone, without installing apps or extensions. Once created, you can connect to all decentralized applications by simply authorizing through your mobile device.
Sponsored Transactions: During Onchain Summer, transaction fees for operations on Base are covered by Coinbase. This way, users do not need to fund their wallets just to pay gas fees.
Use of USDC: This globally popular stablecoin, collateralized by fiat dollars, can be used to pay for certain products (like merchandise) and experiences connected to Onchain Summer. Coinbase also allows users to send USDC to others without applying transaction fees.
Coinbase One: This special subscription to the exchange (available for a free trial period) allows users to get the most out of their assets with enhanced staking services, commission-free trading, and priority customer support.
Global Community
The most exciting part of Onchain Summer is the online activity. Thanks to the tireless work of Jesse Pollak, the first builder of Base, and Statuette, community manager and coordinator of global builders, the Base family has branched into over 40 national communities. This summer, these communities will promote a series of projects, events, workshops, and activities aimed at engaging all network users.
The first work created by this large network of builders is an explanatory frame of the initiative published on Warpcast and translated into all the languages of the 40 communities. If you don’t know what Warpcast and frames are, refer to a previous article. By clicking on the image, you will be redirected to the international frame by @kamil-j.
The next project of the global community is a collection promoted by builder @harrytrananh and composed of NFTs created by the territorial communities. A common theme interpreted with the creativity and specificities of artists involved from around the world. Follow the channels of Base and Base Italia to stay updated on the launch. A music video clip featuring video contributions from all over the world by @midi will follow the NFT collection.
Enjoying Onchain Summer
Where to start to fully enjoy the onboarding month?
Start by creating your Smart Wallet if you don’t already have one. If you’re used to traditional wallets with recovery phrases, consider creating one with Coinbase Wallet for full compatibility with Base.
Follow Base on social networks to stay updated on new initiatives. Find all resources and channels on base.org.
Explore Based World, an immersive experience in the Base globe created by @to and @undefined. Through this interactive map, you can view content created on Warpcast by national communities and applaud your favorite casts.
If you’re not already registered, create an account on Warpcast, the web3 social network on Base Network. Many initiatives connected to Onchain Summer take place here, and it’s where Base’s territorial communities have their headquarters. For example, until July 7, the channel /base-creators will host a video and photo contest themed “Touch grass” with a prize pool of 3 ETH to be divided among the most appreciated posts. For more information on Warpcast, refer to a previous article.
Check out the 1255 projects presented by builders during the Buildathon and actively participate in the selection by voting for your favorites. If you want, you can support our project with a like.
Mint your favorite NFTs on Zora, a crosschain NFT project launchpad. On this platform, you will not only be able to collect the most promising NFTs of the season but also create your collection in a few steps with very low fees.
With your Smart Wallet or, in some cases, with your Warpcast account, experiment with some of the SocialFi dApps recently implemented on Base Network. You can range from creating polaroid-format NFTs from your photos with Moshicam to publishing portrait-format videos with Drakula. In a previous article, I proposed six of the most promising SocialFi dApps of the moment.
Base Italy
Through the social channels of the Italian community, my colleagues Panofsky, Hasbull, and I will keep you updated on the news of Onchain Summer and try to provide educational tools to facilitate new users’ access. We are already forging collaborations with Italian artists on web3 to create an NFT collection that celebrates the birth of our community and this onchain summer.
You can find us on X (@basedita), Telegram, and naturally on Warpcast in the channels /baseitaly and /base-it. We have already launched the first NFT dedicated to Onchain Summer, inspired by 60s Italian holidays and created by local artist MynimalMonster. Click on the image to mint it for free on Zora (0.000777 ETH fees).
In July, we will also launch a new NFT created by @littlesilver, an artist active on web3 for several years and author of the NFT comic ETH-MEN, launched on Ethereum in 2020. I’ll just tell you that the illustration will feature the Base Italy mascot!