Coinbase’s Base Launches Solana Bridge Using Chainlink CCIP

Coinbase’s Base has launched a Solana bridge utilizing Chainlink CCIP, facilitating asset transfers between the networks now that it is live on mainnet.

The open-source bridge, announced in a Dec. 4 Base blog post, allows users to move assets in both directions and trade tokens across Base and Solana. Integrations are already live with Zora, Aerodrome, Virtuals, Flaunch, and Relay.

Powered by a bespoke cross-chain oracle, Coinbase and Chainlink CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol) node operators independently verify messages for secure cross-network transfers, according to Base. This ensures that transfers between Solana and Base are safe and reliable.

"This is a major step towards our goal for Base to serve as a hub for the everything economy: every asset, across every network, at any time, and Solana is just the beginning," stated the Base team.

A Range Of Cross-Chain Experiences Unlocked

Base indicated in its blog post that the bridge "opens up a range of new cross-chain experiences."

Base builders can now integrate with the bridge to support assets and tokens native to the Solana network within their applications.

Users will also be able to trade and utilize assets across the blockchains in applications that have integrated with the bridge, "regardless of whether they’re on Base or Solana," the team confirmed.

Anyone will be able to bridge assets between Solana and Base, making them tradable and usable on both networks.

Developers interested in integrating with the new cross-chain bridge can visit the project’s official Github repository.

The bridge has been made open-source, meaning its code is publicly accessible for anyone to view, use, modify, and distribute. Teams often open-source their code to foster collaboration.

The decision to open-source the bridge aligns with the Base team’s objective to "build a global economy" that is "interoperable and connected."

Base Ranks Fifth-Largest Blockchain By TVL

Base was launched by Coinbase in 2023 and has experienced significant growth since its inception.

Data from DefiLlama indicates that Base has become the fifth-largest blockchain in the market in terms of total value locked (TVL).

With a decentralized finance (DeFi) TVL exceeding $4.57 billion, Base is positioned just below Bitcoin, the oldest network in the Web3 space.

Ethereum leads the market with a DeFi TVL of over $70 billion. Solana (SOL) holds the second position with more than $9 billion locked on its network.

Base's top-5 ranking in TVL is notable as it is one of the few blockchains in the space without its own token. However, speculation that this may change has been fueled by Coinbase executive and Base head Jesse Pollak's earlier statement that a token would eventually be launched.

Following the announcement of the bridge, the price of Solana experienced a decline of over 5%. This coincided with a broader cryptocurrency market pullback in the past 24 hours, during which the total market capitalization of the crypto space decreased by over 2%, according to CoinMarketCap data.

SOL's 5% correction, along with a similar drop for ADA, represented the largest 24-hour losses among the top ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.