Bits + Bips: Could a Base Token Be Coinbase's Key to a Super App? - Ep. 905

This week on Bits + Bips, hosts Steve Ehrlich and Ram Ahluwalia speak with Blockchain.com’s Nic Cary and Franklin Templeton’s Max Gokhman.

We talk about how the potential Base token would alter the L2 landscape, and who should capture the value if Coinbase becomes the backbone for DeFi. Also, whether Web2 and TradFi giants will buy their way onchain, why privacy infrastructure is overdue, and how TON’s superapp strategy could pressure social platforms to follow suit. 

Plus: how Franklin Templeton is valuing L2s and other tokens, why the FOMC’s decision matters for crypto risk, and how tariff talk could spill into digital assets. 

Thank you to our sponsor, Xapo!

Hosts:

• Steve Ehrlich, Executive Editor at Unchained

Ram Ahluwalia, CFA, CEO and Founder of Lumida

Guests:

• Nic Cary, Co-Founder and Vice Chairman at Blockchain.com

• Max Gokhman, Deputy Chief Investment Officer for Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions

Links:

• Unchained: 

• Base Will Likely Have a Token: Why Now, Who Wins, and How Big It Gets

• Base Starts to Explore a Native Token

Timestamps:

🎬 0:00 Intro

🪙 5:13 The reason for Coinbase’s flip flop on a Base token

🌉 18:33 Should Blockchain.com launch its own L2?

🏗️ 22:05 Is Coinbase becoming the infrastructure layer for DeFi?

📊 25:13 How $1.5 trillion Franklin Templeton builds valuation frameworks for L2s and tokens

📱 30:33 Nic’s case for TON and its superapp strategy

🏦 34:00 Whether Web2 and TradFi giants will buy their way onchain

🕵️ 40:21 Why privacy infrastructure is overdue for crypto but never seems to work

📉 51:03 Surprising predictions regarding the next Fed rate cut

🇺🇸 57:45 Why Trump has a tariff backup plan, and what it means for crypto

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