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FollowingBase founder Jesse Pollack said he will step down from the app's leadership after taking responsibility for one of the biggest mistakes in web history. He admitted that his decision to bet on the social economy on the chain did not drive the large-scale popularity of cryptocurrencies as expected.
Base's failed bet on Social networks
After months of reflection and a week of listening to community feedback, Pollack shared his thoughts on Base's difficult situation in 2026. He described the first quarter as a "punch in the face" and pointed out that he had bet in 2024 and 2025 on two directions he believed would drive app development.
Base's long-term strategy is based on the assumption that developers will embark on the next wave of cryptocurrency adoption, and this will be achieved through on-chain social experiences such as creator platforms, instant messaging and content publishing.
Looking back now, Pollack admits that his theory was only half right. He said that developers have indeed pushed for the next round of popularity, as evidenced by the momentum in areas such as stablecoins, forecasting markets, perpetual contract trading and tokenization. But social platforms have not achieved the same level of success, and projects such as Farcaster, Zora, mini apps and creator tokens have not achieved widespread adoption.
"The social market that many of us have been building has completely collapsed... I was wrong." He wrote.
The crypto company launched the Base app in 2025, reshaping it from a Coinbase wallet into a "all-purpose app" that combines Social networks, transactions, instant messaging, AI tools and creator monetization capabilities.
However, Pollack admitted that the excessive focus on social products has caused the network to struggle to catch up with competitors. He said people had lost confidence in the platform and critics were quick to accuse him of every mistake he made.
Pollack steps down as leadership
Base founder said he will return application leadership to Coinbase to focus on the blockchain itself. The well-known Cobie, Jordan Fish, will take over from him and lead the next phase of product development.
"We will build Base into the blockchain of global finance and make every effort to make it a settlement place for global funds for the next century." he said.
Pollack added that his new mission is to make Base the blockchain that supports global finance, which he believes is the biggest opportunity for cryptocurrencies. For the rest of the year, the network will focus on three main areas: transactions, payments and AI agents.
Finally, he said that the road ahead for Base is not smooth, and competition from companies such as Robinhood and Stripe is becoming increasingly fierce. But he stressed that he would not take users 'loyalty for granted, but hoped to win back their trust through hard work.
