How to start using Base

Base needs two things from you: a wallet that knows about the network, and enough ETH on that network to pay for transactions. Once those exist you are done setting up.

Point a wallet at Base

Coinbase Wallet and the Base app already have Base configured, so there is nothing to do.

Everywhere else, you add it once. MetaMask, Rabby and most browser wallets take the same handful of values, and the network details page has them along with a button that adds the network for you if you have a wallet installed. The only value worth memorising is the chain ID, 8453.

The address you end up with is the same address you already use on Ethereum. Wallets derive it the same way, so there is no separate Base account to create and no new seed phrase to write down.

Put some ETH on it

Gas on Base is paid in ETH. This catches people out, because the obvious first move is to bridge stablecoins, and stablecoins cannot pay for their own transfer. Bring ETH first, or bring it alongside.

There are two sensible routes.

Withdrawing from an exchange is usually the cheapest, because the exchange moves the funds internally and you only pay their withdrawal fee. Select Base in the network dropdown when you withdraw. If that dropdown is giving you an error, the withdrawal error guide covers what it means.

Bridging from another chain works when your funds are already onchain. From Ethereum, the official Base Bridge charges no fee of its own and deposits arrive in minutes. From another L2, a third party bridge going directly is normally cheaper than routing back through Ethereum. The bridge page computes what each route costs from live gas prices.

Either way, start with a small test amount.

What things cost

Less than most people expect. A plain ETH transfer runs a fraction of a cent, and a token swap a few tenths of a cent, at the gas prices Base has been seeing. The gas page shows the current numbers rather than these approximations.

The expensive direction is leaving. Withdrawing from Base back to Ethereum through the standard route has a seven day challenge period before the withdrawal finalises. That is how optimistic rollups work and no one can waive it for you. Third party bridges skip the wait by fronting you the funds and charging for the service.

A reasonable first hour

Send a small amount to yourself to watch a transaction confirm. It takes about two seconds, which is the point at which most people stop thinking of Base as Ethereum with extra steps.

After that, look at what is actually being used. The rankings show where value sits and the directory covers the apps behind those numbers. Trading and lending dominate by size, though that says more about where money goes than about where you should start.

If you want a name rather than an address, Basenames does that, and it makes the address you hand out readable.

Mistakes worth avoiding

Bridging only stablecoins and arriving with no way to move them is the most common. Keep some ETH.

Approving a contract for an unlimited amount is the one that costs people money later. Most wallets let you set a spending cap at signing time, and revoking approvals afterwards is possible but rarely remembered.

Treating a high APY as a rate rather than a projection is the third. The yield rankings show a base yield and a reward yield in separate columns for that reason: emissions can stop whenever whoever funds them decides to stop.