Base, the Layer 2 by Coinbase, is now available on MEW Mobile wallet!
Since launching in early 2023, Base quickly became one of the most popular Layer 2 networks in the Ethereum ecosystem. In fact, at time of writing, it’s in second place (behind only Arbitrum) by total value locked and market share among Layer 2s.
Base’s popularity has been fueled by several factors:
- Base was created by Coinbase, one of the oldest and most trusted companies in the crypto space. Coinbase has built a 100+ million loyal user base over the years, which ensured that Base had quick adoption and large transaction volumes soon after launch.
- Base offers secure, fast transactions with much lower network fees than Ethereum.
- Base is home to big community events like Onchain Summer, and to popular decentralized applications like Warpcast and Mint.Fun.
- Base is built on Optimism’s open-source OP stack and EVM equivalent, so it’s very builder-friendly, with direct access to the Coinbase and Superchain ecosystems.
Support on MEW Mobile app makes using Base easier than ever. You can do everything – buy, bridge, swap, and use dApps – right from your phone.
Bridge to Base
To do anything on Base you will need ETH for gas, just like on Ethereum. (The good news is that you’ll need much less ETH to send, swap, or mint!)
So, if you are new to Base, the first thing to do is to bridge some of your ETH to Base. That means transferring some of your Ethereum-native ETH to Base where it can serve as a native gas token, just like it does on Ethereum.
Bridging crypto doesn’t have to be scary or confusing! You can bridge to Base right from your MEW Mobile wallet, just follow our detailed bridging guide.
(Don’t even have ETH on Ethereum yet? Not a problem. Buy ETH directly in your wallet and choose from a variety of integrated crypto purchase providers, including Topper, Simplex, MoonPay, and Coinbase Onramp.)
Swap on Base
Once you’ve bridged some ETH, you can start swapping for tokens.
Swaps can get expensive on Ethereum, depending on network congestion, so you might hesitate before aping into that coin you heard about or making a quick, spur-of-the moment trade. On Base, fees are not an issue, and having your MEW Mobile app always with you means you can be as spontaneous as you want.
Swaps on MEW Mobile are very intuitive – just choose what you want to swap, and what you want to get, and have MEW find the best offer for you. For more help, see our detailed swapping guide.
Use Base dApps
Of course, the most fun to be had in crypto is on decentralized applications (dApps). That’s where you’ll find NFTs, games, airdrop farming, crypto rewards, and literally anything cool you’ve ever heard about in crypto.
In MEW Mobile app, you can connect to dApps via the integrated browser. You can search for onchain applications just like you do for any other page in Google. The difference is when you open a decentralized application page, you can connect your wallet to interact with it. Most of the time, MEW Mobile will prompt you to connect automatically. If not, look for a ‘Connect’ button, usually located on the top right of the page.
For Base dApps and NFTs, make sure you have Base selected from the network dropdown on top of the browser tab. For more guidance, see our help page article on using dApps with MEW Mobile wallet.
More to explore
In addition to Base, MEW Mobile wallet supports several low-fee blockchain networks, including Polygon, BNB Smart Chain, and zkSync Era. Looking for even more variety? Our browser extension wallet Enkrypt has over 70 natively integrated networks, plus the ability to add custom networks, for a truly multichain experience.
