Matthew

Context: While working at Base, I realized that a large portion of the team wasn't actually using the Base app. I straight up asked many people and did some onchain sleuthing to confirm. Also confirmed by someone at baseapp. I grew frustrated seeing product feedback come far more frequently from @brian_armstrong and @jessepollak compared to the rest of the team. When I tried proposing a solution (P/PS), it was brushed aside because revealing just how low internal usage was would have been a bad look for the team. ​Reflecting on that cultural shift and how it's impacted ecosystem sentiment, a lot of it comes down to a gap in genuine internal alignment. It’s seems like everyone bleeds blue when they're cashing coinbase checks, but true conviction is a different story. The teams that build enduring momentum are usually the ones filled with people who are authentic power users, have actually spent time in the trenches, deployed capital, and used ecosystem apps themselves. ​If the goal is to build a championship team, there’s just no substitute for having people who are truly invested from day one - not just when being paid. To fix this, leadership should consider a practical internal audit and a shift in how engagement is cultivated. ​1. The Internal Audit ​Since wallet addresses are already tracked internally for compliance and insider trading prevention, that data can be looked at constructively to understand real participation. Compare team engagement from before joining versus post-hire by asking a few baseline questions: ​How frequently are team members actually opening and using the Base app? ​Are we actively dogfooding the new functions we’re rolling out and selling to the market? ​How many native ecosystem apps are people touching on a regular basis? ​Are we engaging with the specific projects we’re deploying capital into, such as Base Ecosystem Fund apps and Base Batches winners? ​2. The Solution: A Monthly Testing Stipend ​If the audit reveals a disconnect, the fix isn't just a top-down mandate. It’s creating the right environment for organic alignment. ​Distribute a modest monthly stipend, something like 100 USDC, dedicated strictly to using the Base app and testing emerging ecosystem apps. ​This approach accomplishes two things: ​It naturally bridges the gap between internal teams and the builders in the trenches. ​It creates organic discoverability, helping the team naturally identify quality apps and builders worth amplifying based on real usage, which performs infinitely better than relying on a clunky internal amplification request form. This is also a great exercise in team building because you can gamify it with a feedback and usage leaderboard and shower the team with kudos on slack. This can also be expanded to the social layer. Generating feedback from the most aligned users/ communities instead of broad spray and pray posts asking for feedback from bots, reply guys and people who many not even have funded wallets. CC @cobie

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⚠️ @blockaid_ EXPLOIT DETECTION SYSTEM HAS IDENTIFIED A USDC BRIDGE POSSIBLE EXPLOIT ON @arbitrum @peckshield : We detected an abnormal bridge withdrawal that extracted ~$24.15M USDC from an Arbitrum USDC custody bridge contract. The on-chain bridge logic was not bypassed; the malicious withdrawal was authorized by a quorum of hot-validator signatures and then finalized after the dispute period.

We’ve voted FOR Curve DAO Proposal #1455 to add a gauge for the FT/ftUSD pool. Vote on @CurveFinance: curve.finance/dao/ethereum/p…