Coinbase defends ETH holdings amid community criticism

Jesse Pollak, the creator of the Base layer-2 network, has defended Coinbase against criticisms from the Ethereum community regarding the company’s alleged selling of Ethereum (ETH). Critics have accused the exchange of dumping ETH while simultaneously running Base, one of the most active layer-2 networks on the Ethereum blockchain.

Pollak countered these claims by stating that Coinbase remains one of the largest institutional holders of ETH, excluding digital asset treasury (DAT) companies. He noted that Coinbase’s treasury holds between 115,000 and 151,000 ETH, valued at approximately $300 million.

Beyond its holdings, Pollak emphasized Coinbase’s broader contributions to the ecosystem, including its role in developing EIP-4844 to reduce transaction costs, the co-creation of the USDC stablecoin, and onboarding millions of users to the Ethereum network through the Base platform. He argued that attacking companies that build on the protocol could ultimately harm the ecosystem's long-term growth.