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Following
ETH Coinbase's battle of trust with the Ethereum community: Sell or Hold?
Coinbase rarely enjoys unconditional trust in the Ethereum community. Recently, accusations that the exchange is quietly selling ether have turned into a wider debate: Is one of the network's largest commercial participants also one of its most determined holders? Base founder Jesse Pollak strongly refuted this, arguing that the accusation was not based on on-chain observations, but rather a misreading of Coinbase's economic situation.
Pollak said that Coinbase has the largest holder of Ethereum among unmanaged address holders,"orders of magnitude far exceeding other institutions." It has also become one of Ethereum's largest customers through Base and is a major contributor to EVM and Ethereum development. His response stemmed from a post from a member of the Ethereum Foundation that argued that much of the community's anger against Coinbase was "completely wrong." Pollak also warned that "hating your customers" is a good way to make them no longer want to be customers.
From sale battle to loyalty battle
The accusation itself is simple: Some members of the Ethereum community accuse Coinbase of selling ether, especially when large exchange-linked wallets transfer funds. Pollak's response shifted from trading level evidence to overall position level context. Holding ether an order of magnitude higher than any unmanaged address holder does not automatically prove there was no sale, but it does change the severity of the problem.
A company that holds such a large amount of ether has good reasons not to disrupt the market for the asset. Based on Base alone, Coinbase has structural incentives to maintain the value of Ethereum's block space, as Base users create demand for Ethereum as fuel. If Ethereum becomes cheap or no longer important, then Layer 2 business will lose part of its economic foundation. This doesn't mean Coinbase will never manage its balance sheet, but it makes the "sell ether" argument far less simple than it seems.
Impact of Base Factors
Pollak's defense relies heavily on the ecosystem infrastructure built by Coinbase. His list of contributions includes Base, USDC, cbBTC, EIP-4844, ERC-4337 smart wallet, and x402. These are not marginal contributions. For example, EIP-4844 is crucial to improving the efficiency of the Ethereum network, and Coinbase's deep involvement in this demonstrates its long-term binding to the Ethereum ecosystem.
