Base App Preview: Crypto Wallet, Onchain Social, and Beyond

The Base L2 is now Base Chain, and Coinbase Wallet is now the Base app.

As part of this rebranding, the wallet's been rebuilt into an “everything app” that weaves together Farcaster social, Zora‑powered creator monetization, mini apps, payments, swaps, and encrypted chats.

This new onchain command station also offers Base Account smart wallets, which allow one‑tap sign-ins across apps and chains so you can own and bring your identity wherever you go.

The Base app is in an invite-only beta for now. I was fortunate and received early access, and I spent the past day taking it for a spin. Here’s what you can expect once you’re in, too.

Navigating the app

Upon downloading the app on your phone, you'll be prompted to create a new Base account or import a previous Coinbase Wallet account.

Once you're done with this initial step, you'll be asked to create a Farcaster account or connect an existing one. Next, pick a few social categories to subscribe to, like "Crypto" or "News," and then your setup will be complete.

Now you'll find yourself on the home screen of the Base app, which will look like so:

As you scroll down, you'll find community apps take center stage.

The uppermost tab sends you to a series of trending Farcaster mini apps, and below this you'll see a carousel of featured apps (e.g. fxhash, Mamo, QR, etc.) plus discovery categories like "Games," "Social," "Art," and beyond.

Then if you flick over to the next button at the bottom of the app, which looks like a rectangle sandwiched between two short lines, you'll find Base's new in-app social feed that's built atop Farcaster:

In the screenshot above, notice the market cap stats beneath the posts. This comes from the Base app's integration with Zora coins, so that anything you cast here can become a tradeable token.

To post something, just press the "pencil" button in the lower right of this screen.

This will lead you to a casting UI that will be familiar if you've ever used X or Farcaster before. In the lower left of this interface, you can toggle between allowing your casts to be coined or not.

Notably, I casted that post above, and my in-app wallet immediately received my initial earnings via the Zora integration. Pretty slick! Of course, you can also use the QR code button in your wallet to pull up your address if you want to bring in more funds from elsewhere.

Another nice touch here is that you can click the "Buy" button and connect your main Coinbase account to fund your Base app wallet with your USD or crypto holdings on Coinbase.

If you want to trade or transact, you can press the arrows button at the bottom of the app. Doing this will bring you to a swaps UI, though you can also flick over to "Send" or "Request" here if you want to make direct sends, tap-to-pay transactions, or claim links.

The next navigation button is the chat box, which brings up the Base app's Chat hub. This is where you can direct message people you follow or onchain AI assistants like Bankr and Mamo.

Lastly, the bell icon at the bottom of the app shows you your recent Farcaster notifications, while the wallet icon lets you quickly bring up and manage your in-app crypto holdings.

Zooming out

I found the Base app smooth, easy to onboard to, and filled with onchain attractions. It's not hard to imagine that it can become much more popular in the years ahead accordingly.

Plus, Farcaster and Zora are some of the most compelling projects in crypto, so to see them blended in well here is awesome. It makes for a unique offering in the wallet landscape today and puts Base's "everything app" vision within reach.

What I liked most was the emphasis on things to do. The whole wallet is built around community mini apps. I launched a coin through Flaunch, traded via Bankr, and more, all directly within the Base app in just a few clicks.

There were a couple of hiccups, too, of course. At first, I had trouble transferring crypto in from my Coinbase account, and I also got stuck when trying to connect to some mini apps.

Yet stuff like that's to be expected, as these are the very early days for the Base app. It'll keep evolving and getting further polished in the months ahead.

In the meantime, join the waitlist or keep your eyes peeled for invite codes so you can dive in as early as possible!