Crypto exchange Kraken has opted to list a Solana blockchain version of a Coinbase Base blockchain asset.
The irony of Solana offloading the processing of Coinbase’s supposedly ultra-scalable Base blockchain is funny enough on its own — not to mention the further irony of Kraken listing a Coinbase asset before Coinbase itself.
The digital asset, Virtuals (VIRTUAL), is a metaverse token that’s best known for its 70% decline in price in the past four weeks. The token claims to be useful for a dizzying array of “metaverse infrastructure” like digital identity, ticketing, cross-world interoperability, NFT ownership, gaming transactions, and social interactions.
Base protocol Virtuals chooses… Solana
Rather than maintain a dedication to its founding blockchain, Virtuals Protocol decided on January 25 to abandon its sole dedication to Base and add native support for a second blockchain, Solana.
To financially incentivize Solana use of VIRTUAL, it created its own liquidity pool on a Solana-based Meteora exchange, offered developer grants, and promised to return 1% of trading fees to a Solana-denominated ecosystem fund.
Read more: Bots are front-running bots front-running Base meme coins
In early January, the project had a market capitalization of $5 billion. Today, it’s worth less than $1 billion.
Coinbase, despite leading the Base blockchain, hasn’t listed Virtuals Protocol for trading. Users of the self-custodial Coinbase Wallet may acquire VIRTUAL tokens via decentralized exchanges, although Coinbase notes that it “is not involved in, and does not take responsibility for transactions on Coinbase Wallet.”
For customers looking for a traditional exchange experience, they can skip Coinbase Base entirely and simply use Kraken to buy those tokens on Solana.
