© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.
Here's the deal: Base is Coinbase's Layer 2 on Ethereum, super cheap gas like ~0.0001 ETH per swap, and it's exploding for DeFi in 2026. TVL's pushing billions now. Why Base? Fees are dirt cheap compared to mainnet Ethereum, speeds are fast, and big names are building here. Think Uniswap, Aave - they're all in. If you're new, it's your easy entry to DeFi without getting rekt on gas.
In my experience, Base feels like Ethereum but without the wallet draining waits. You connect MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet, bridge some ETH or USDC over, and boom - you're trading, lending, farming. But watch out for bridge delays sometimes. Usually 10-30 mins. Okay, let's hit the top projects you'll wanna use right now.
Look, Uniswap's the king DEX everywhere, and on Base it's even better. TVL around $6B chain wide, but Base pools are growing fast. Fees? 0.01% to 0.3% plus tiny Base gas. No KYC, just wallet swaps.
Why does this matter? You can trade any token listed without some exchange banning you. v4's out now with hooks for limit orders - set a price, walk away.
Pro tip: Use UniswapX for gasless if you're lazy. But sometimes it fails on low liq pools - fallback to regular swap. Had that happen last week, annoying but fixed in seconds.
Aave's got $38B TVL, huge chunk on Base now. Deposit USDC, earn 4-8% APY. Borrow against it at like 5-10%. Flash loans if you're fancy - borrow millions, repay in one tx, no collateral.
The thing is, it's multi chain but Base makes it cheap. I usually park stablecoins here for passive yield. Rates fluctuate, so check app.aave.com often.
Sound familiar? It's like a bank but you control keys. Potential issue: High utilization spikes rates to 20%+. Solution? Diversify pools.
Lido's liquid staking dominates with $38B TVL. On Base? stETH works. Stake ETH, get stETH - use it in Aave or Uniswap while earning ~3-5% staking rewards.
Honestly, this changed my game. No more locked ETH. Fees: Protocol takes 10% of rewards, gas negligible on Base.
How I do it:
Connect to stake.lido.fi, switch Base. Stake 1 ETH, get ~1 stETH. Then loop it - deposit stETH to Aave, borrow ETH, restake. Yields compound to 10%+ easy. But watch debt - markets crash, boom, liquidation city.
Curve's all about low slippage stables. $2.7B TVL, crvUSD live now. On Base, swap USDC/USDT/USDe for 0.0004% fees. Perfect for big trades without price nuking.
Recent? LLAMMA keeps things stable during depegs. I use it to rotate stables for best yields.
| Pool | Fee | APY (ish) |
|---|---|---|
| USDC/USDT | 0.0004% | 2-5% |
| crvUSD/USDC | 0.001% | 4-7% |
| stETH/ETH | 0.0001% | 3-6% |
Steps? curve.fi, Base chain. Approve, add liquidity or swap. Gas under $0.10. Issue: Impermanent loss if LPing volatiles. Stick to stables.
What's next? app.1inch.io, Base selected. Input trade, it routes optimal path. Saved me 1% on a $10k swap last month. Pathfinding's smart now, avoids sandwiches.
Okay, Hyperliquid's blowing up on Base like speed. $15B market cap, perps with CEX feels. Gasless, 100x leverage on BTC/ETH. Fees tiered: 0.02% maker/taker for low volume.
For degen trading. I dip in for quick flips. Warning: Liqs hurt. Use 5x max if new.
Recent: Isolated margins, no cross liq risk. But slippage on big orders - trade small first.
Spark's Maker's lending arm, $6.5B TVL. Borrow DAI cheap against ETH. Summer.fi automates it all - vaults for leveraged farming.
Base integration fresh, low costs. I run a Summer.fi vault: Deposit ETH, auto borrows DAI, farms on Curve. APYs 8-15%. Setup:
summer.fi, connect. Pick strategy like "ETH DAI Farm". Deposit, approve. It loops leverage. Monitor health factor >1.2. Drops? Add collateral quick.
Issue: Smart contract risks. But audited heavy. In my experience, runs smooth 90% time.
Ethena's USDe: $10B TVL, backed by ETH + shorts. Yield ~10-20% from funding. On Base, pairs everywhere.
Hold USDe, earn sUSDe rewards. Redeem 1:1. Depeg risk low so far. I farm it on Curve pools.
Pancake's expanding to Base, $2B TVL. Farms, lotteries, swaps. CAKE staking ~20% APY sometimes.
Casual fun. pancakeswap.finance, Base chain. Farm CAKE USDC, harvest rewards daily. Gas cheap, yields juicy.
Don't sleep on infra. Chainlink oracles feed prices to all above - CCIP for cross chain now. GRT indexes Base data for dApps.
Not "use daily" but hold LINK/GRT. Powers everything. TVL massive indirectly.
AI agents paying via x402 on Base - 30% txs soon. Restaking like EigenLayer ports over. DePIN collaterals mixing in.
Fees stay low: Swaps $0.01-0.10. Bridges free ish. Mobile apps popping - Coinbase Wallet one taps.
Short ones: Hardware wallet for big bags. Check TVL on defillama.com/base. Revoke approvals at revoke.cash. Start small - $100 test.
Taxes? US folks, track swaps as trades. Tools like Koinly.
Security: 2FA everywhere, never seed share. Phishing? Base fakes pop up - bookmark real sites.
Morning: Bridge $500 USDC to Base.
Swap 20% to ETH on Uniswap.
Stake ETH on Lido → stETH to Aave supply, borrow USDC.
Loop half back to Lido. Farm rest on Curve USDe pool.
Afternoon: Check 1inch for arb ops.
Evening: Perp flip on Hyperliquid if BTC pumps.
Yields roll in passive. That's my flow. APY ~12% avg, low effort.
(
© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.