Crypto needs non-USD stablecoins for meaningful utility, says Base creator Jesse Pollak
Stablecoins pegged to currencies other than the U.S. dollar are "missing" from the cryptocurrency space, said Jesse Pollak, creator of Coinbase-incubated Layer 2 Base.
"What's missing is all of the non-dollar currencies," Pollak said during a speech at Token2049 in Singapore on Thursday.
"If you look at the world today, something like 60% of the world currency reserves is dollars, but then you have tens of other critical currencies — whether it's the euro or the yen or even currencies like the Nigerian naira — that are huge parts of the global economy," Pollak added. "But right now they're missing in the crypto economy. It is 99% denominated dollars."
Pollak explained that local currency-pegged stablecoins can provide meaningful local utility. "If we have local currencies onchain, we can enable people to do everyday things like payments, borrowing and lending in the currency that they're already used to," he said.
According to Pollak, Base recorded around 81 billion stablecoin transactions last month, representing roughly $1.5 trillion in transaction volume.
He added that 12 local currency stablecoins are already available on Base, including those backed by the Indonesian rupiah, Turkish lira, New Zealand dollar, and Brazilian real. Coinbase and Base also launched two additional stablecoins today, pegged to the Singapore dollar and the Australian dollar.
As of Wednesday, the total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins reached 284.4 billion, up from 272.3 billion at the beginning of September, according to The Block's data dashboard.
Teasing super app
Meanwhile, Pollak said Base is actively testing its super app, Base App, after rebranding it from Coinbase Wallet. The company unveiled the app in July, and it remains in beta. The app aims to bundle social networking, mini‑apps, trading and instant payments into one platform.
The head of Base noted that the app focuses heavily on the creator economy and aims to support a "create-and-earn" model.
Pollak argued that the Web2 model has failed creators, who generate significant value for major platforms but see little in return. "When creators bring their content into the walled gardens of Web2 corporations, they don’t make money,” he said, adding that platforms capture about 95% of the value while creators receive less than 5%.
In contrast, Pollak said onchain social networks flip that dynamic by ensuring creators capture the majority of the value. "Onchain social flips that script, where now 95% of the value goes to creators," he said.
Pollak said the app currently has 1.2 million people on its waitlist, with plans to expand to general availability in the coming months. "It’s still very early. It's still in beta, but we're working toward a general availability in the next few months," he added.
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