Bankless · Friday, July 17, 2026
Jesse Pollak, the creator of Base, has acknowledged that the L2's initial focus on creator coins and web3 social was a misstep. He described the first quarter as "eating shit" and a "punch to the face," indicating a strategic pivot towards prioritizing DeFi and financial primitives instead.
“the collateral damage talking about this year, how things have gone, has been an exercise in eating shit.”
“He has a whole post about this. He describes the first quarter of 2026 as a punch to the face.”
“What we should have done instead was focused on Internet of Finance, basically. The money types of things, the DeFi, the perps, the trading, these sorts of money primitives instead.”