Solana's co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko criticized Coinbase Base's expansion strategy over the weekend and dismissed the Ethereum Layer-2 network's new bridge as 'coordinated nonsense.'
Yakovenko opposed Base leader Jesse Pollak and stated that cross-chain bridges are rarely neutral infrastructures. He argued that they capture value and influence where fees end up and which ecosystem benefits.
Solana rejects Base's 'Alignment' message
Yakovenko argued that Base applications must move their computation to Solana so that transaction fees and economic activity benefit Solana's validators.
'Move Base apps to Solana so they run on Solana, and transactions are handled by Solana's staking block producers. It would benefit Solana developers. Otherwise, it's coordinated nonsense,' he said.
The dispute began after Pollak announced the integration last week, describing it as a 'two-way tool' for unlocking shared liquidity.
'We built this as a two-way bridge. The whole point is to enable movement in both directions because we hear from the Solana team that they want access to Base and from the Base team that they want access to Solana. We want to make that possible,' emphasized Pollak.
But Yakovenko dismissed this concept and warned that 'coordination' is often a marketing term that hides capital flight.
He therefore demanded that Base market the bridge honestly as a competitive tactic rather than a collaborative project.
'Ethereum L2s must carry out this coordination maneuver because activity on L2 reduces what happens on Ethereum L1, but you can't be honest about it. Therefore, it feels like nonsense,' said Yakovenko.
Key figures at the Solana Foundation, Vibhu Norby and Akshay BD, had previously criticized the bridge and stated that Base completely bypassed Solana's technical and marketing teams.
They also claimed that the exchange-backed network launched the product without a single Solana launch partner.
At the same time, they mentioned private messages from Base management claiming to 'turn' Solana as evidence of hostile intentions.
'We would love to participate in a genuine commercial discussion… but not one that is superficial and full of platitudes that mean nothing,' stated BD.
Pollak defended the initiative, stating that his team spent nine months building the connection to meet demand from developers on both sides.
He assessed that the friction was due to a communication error and insisted that the bridge allows the flow of assets where opportunities exist.
'If you're a Solana builder, we welcome you with open arms — and have no expectation or desire for you to move entirely to Base! We want to give your assets access to the demand being built on Base and make that process as simple as possible,' explained Pollak.
However, market observers see a darker pattern.
NFT historian Leonidas noted that Base used similar 'coordinated propaganda' on Ethereum during 2023, before transitioning to its own economy.
'Coinbase/Base's new campaign to reach the Solana ecosystem feels equally dishonest. If the Solana ecosystem believes the same 'coordinated propaganda' that the Ethereum L1 ecosystem did, it deserves the same fate,' said Leonidas.
Solana and Base have become two of the fastest-growing blockchain networks, directly competing for assets, liquidity, and developer activity.
Together, they have nearly 20 billion USD in locked value. Solana accounts for about 12 billion USD, while Base has approximately 6 billion USD, according to DeFiLlama data.
