Coinbase’s Base blockchain is ending its revenue-sharing partnership with Optimism, opting to use its own in-house code instead. This terminates a deal where Base contributed 15% of its fees, totaling over $16 million, to the Optimism Collective. The move has caused Optimism’s OP token to drop 25% and raises questions about the future of the interconnected “Superchain” network, which includes projects from Sony, Uniswap, and Kraken.
Coinbase is overhauling its partnership with Optimism, stating its Base blockchain will now use in-house code instead of Optimism’s OP Stack. A spokesperson for Optimism confirmed that Coinbase will stop sharing Base revenue with the Optimism Collective, revenue that has topped $16 million.
This decision hammered the price of Optimism’s OP token, which lost a quarter of its value. OP Labs CEO Jing Wang stated on X, “This is a hit to near-term onchain revenues.” Base had been contributing 15% of its revenue, which accounted for 41% of the Collective’s lifetime revenue and reached 90% in January.
The move could have significant ramifications for the Superchain, a collection of blockchains using the OP Stack. This network includes Sony’s Soneium, Uniswap’s Unichain, Kraken’s Ink, and Worldcoin’s World Chain. An Optimism spokesperson said the group remains focused on delivering enterprise-grade infrastructure.
Coinbase said it was making the change to speed its upgrade cadence and simplify its code. The company will remain a customer of OP Labs’ “OP Enterprise” service. Wang noted that if Base’s code diverges too much, it would no longer require that support.
A pseudonymous member of an Optimism Collective delegate called the move “disappointing, but in many ways unsurprising.” Optimism did score a separate victory, as Ether.fi said it would move its crypto-based credit card to OP Mainnet.
