Base App shifts to trading priority: CEX ecosystem restructuring, creator tokens and mini-programs have clear directions

January 15 News, the self-custody wallet and on-chain application platform Base App launched by the United States’ largest compliant CEX is undergoing a critical strategic adjustment, officially shifting from a product positioning focused on socialization to an application model centered on “trading first.” This change is seen as an important signal that the Base ecosystem is moving towards more mature financial infrastructure by 2026.

Base founder Jesse Pollak recently confirmed that the platform will prioritize the trading experience in product design, focusing on serving the needs and distribution of all tradable assets, including protocol tokens, application assets, on-chain stocks, prediction assets, emoji tokens, and creator tokens. This adjustment directly stems from user feedback. Many users believe that early versions were too close to Web2 social platforms, which instead weakened the discoverability of on-chain assets and trading depth.

According to Pollak, user feedback mainly centers on three aspects: First, the social-first information feed diminishes financial attributes; second, there is a clear rising demand for high-quality tradable assets; third, users want to view applications, assets, predictions, and on-chain activities within the same information stream. To address this, Base will build a user experience focused on finance, layered with social features such as copy trading, information flow trading, and leaderboards, rather than reverse designing.

It is noteworthy that despite shifting to a trading-first approach, mini-programs and creator tokens are not marginalized. Pollak explicitly stated that mini-programs remain an important part of the Base ecosystem, with future efforts focused on improving their discoverability and providing more comprehensive data tools to track user conversion, asset engagement, and influence rankings. This design aims to help developers and creators gain greater distribution space rather than reduce exposure.

In terms of creator economy, Base continues to support the creator token system, including relevant assets such as Pollak’s $Jesse token, which will remain long-term. This stance indicates that Base hopes to establish a symbiotic relationship between trading depth and creator economy, rather than simply choosing one over the other.

The aforementioned CEX CEO Brian Armstrong also added that in the future, Base App will cover a broader range of asset types and on-chain applications, offering multi-chain experiences while maintaining Base as the core entry point, and promoting global expansion under compliant conditions.

Although the developer community still questions Base’s execution efficiency and security responsiveness, from a strategic perspective, shifting to a trading-first approach better aligns with retail users’ real needs for integrated on-chain financial tools. For Base, this may be a crucial step from an “on-chain experimental platform” toward “trading infrastructure.”