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Crypto exchange Kraken has opted to list a Solana blockchain version of a Coinbase Base blockchain asset.
The irony of Solana offloading the processing of Coinbase’s supposedly ultra-scalable Base blockchain is funny enough on its own — not to mention the further irony of Kraken listing a Coinbase asset before Coinbase itself.
The digital asset, Virtuals ($VIRTUAL), is a metaverse token that’s best known for its 70% decline in price in the past four weeks. The token claims to be useful for a dizzying array of “metaverse infrastructure” like digital identity, ticketing, cross-world interoperability, NFT ownership, gaming transactions, and social interactions.
Base protocol Virtuals chooses… Solana
Rather than maintain a dedication to its founding blockchain, Virtuals Protocol decided on January 25 to abandon its sole dedication to Base and add native support for a second blockchain, Solana.
To financially incentivize Solana use of $VIRTUAL, it created its own liquidity pool on a Solana-based Meteora exchange, offered developer grants, and promised to return 1% of trading fees to a Solana-denominated ecosystem fund.
Read more: Bots are front-running bots front-running Base meme coins
In early January, the project had a market capitalization of $5 billion. Today, it’s worth less than $1 billion.
Coinbase, despite leading the Base blockchain, hasn’t listed Virtuals Protocol for trading. Users of the self-custodial Coinbase Wallet may acquire $VIRTUAL tokens via decentralized exchanges, although Coinbase notes that it “is not involved in, and does not take responsibility for transactions on Coinbase Wallet.”
For customers looking for a traditional exchange experience, they can skip Coinbase Base entirely and simply use Kraken to buy those tokens on Solana.