JPMorgan analysts have issued a new equity research note valuing Base, Coinbase’s Layer-2 blockchain, between $12 billion and $34 billion, with as much as $12 billion of that value flowing directly into Coinbase’s equity. The report, dated October 24, 2025, marks one of the clearest examples yet of traditional Wall Street institutions valuing a blockchain network like a standalone business, signaling a major step in the financial mainstreaming of crypto infrastructure.
Base Emerges as a Top Performing Layer-2
According to JPMorgan’s analysis, Base has already become one of the top five Layer-2 ecosystems by nearly every key metric:
- •#4 in daily active users
- •#3 in total transactions
- •#4 in total value locked (TVL)
- •#5 in network revenue
Launched in August 2023, Base has rapidly gained traction thanks to its Coinbase integration, low transaction fees, and developer-friendly environment. JPMorgan’s team, led by Kenneth Worthington, described the network as a "meaningful new monetization opportunity" for Coinbase, especially as activity on the chain continues to expand.
JPM just modeled @Base at a $12B–$34B market cap, and assigns $4B–$12B of that value directly to Coinbase equity.
Base is already:
• #4 in daily active users
• #3 in transactions
• #4 in TVL
• #5 in revenueWall Street is now valuing blockchains like businesses.
The open… https://t.co/7jmexSGMmApic.twitter.com/MMnNt2H7Ck
— Artemis (@artemis) October 28, 2025
From Token Infrastructure to Business Valuation
In its report, JPMorgan upgraded Coinbase (COIN) to Overweight, setting a $404 price target and highlighting Base as a central pillar of Coinbase’s long-term value proposition.
“Base is Coinbase’s proprietary Layer-2 blockchain, and we now see the potential for substantial market capitalization over time,” the note stated. “We see Base not just as a sequencer fee source but as an entirely new business vertical with a strong ecosystem effect.”
The bank estimates that Base could accrue $4–$12 billion of equity value directly to Coinbase as tokenization, on-chain payments, and DeFi activity continue to grow. Analysts also noted the possibility that a future Base token could serve as a community incentive while reinforcing Coinbase’s network moat.
Wall Street Now Sees Blockchains as Businesses
The JPMorgan report reflects a broader shift in institutional thinking: blockchains are being analyzed like revenue-generating enterprises, with metrics such as fees, total economic activity, and network participation replacing traditional valuation models.
Industry data from Artemis shows that Base’s rapid rise has outpaced even optimistic projections. With millions of daily users and billions in transactions, it’s now among the most active Layer-2 networks in the world, positioning Coinbase at the intersection of on-chain infrastructure and financial markets.
The Bigger Picture
JPMorgan’s recognition of Base as a multi-billion-dollar asset underscores a structural transformation in how capital markets view blockchain networks. It also suggests that traditional finance may increasingly price crypto ecosystems not by token speculation but by fundamental network economics, usage, developer activity, and fee generation.
As the note concludes, the line between a tech company and a blockchain ecosystem is fading fast, and for Coinbase, that’s becoming a feature, not a risk.