Base creator Jesse Pollack steps back from app leadership after admitting social betting ‘was wrong’

Jesse Pollack is stepping back from leadership of the Base app, returning responsibility for the product to Coinbase while turning his full attention to Base growing as a blockchain for global finance.

In a long time mail On Day

“The first quarter of 2026 was a punch in the face,” Pollack wrote.

He said his strategy is based on two assumptions: that developers will drive the next wave of cryptocurrency adoption and that growth will come through “new, home-grown social experiences.”

“(In my opinion) we made the right bet on builders, but we clearly made the wrong bet on social media,” he wrote, noting that prediction markets, perpetual currencies and stablecoins emerged as the strongest drivers of adoption instead.

“The whole social aspect of the marketplace that a lot of us were building for —Farcaster, ZoraAnd the applets, and yes, the coins, have completely disintegrated.

Pollack took charge of the outcome.

“I was wrong,” he wrote. “Whether the timing was wrong…or just plain wrong, only time would tell, but regardless, I was completely wrong.”

Launched in 2023, a base It is Coinbase Ethereum Layer-2 network, designed to make cross-chain transactions faster and cheaper while serving as the foundation for Ethereum-based decentralized applications. In 2025, Coinbase Expanded ecosystem with the core app, resulting in Coinbase Wallet being renamed into an “everything app” that combines cryptocurrency trading, social networking, messaging, AI tools, and creator monetization into one platform.

However, Pollack said the focus on social has left Base behind competitors, and his focus is now on “bringing a billion people on-chain just by making global finance actually work.”

Pollack said he has returned leadership of the Base App to Coinbase, where Jordan Fish, known as Cobie, will lead product development while focusing on the Base blockchain.

“(Cobie) will take it from here to make it the best onchain implementation I’ve ever seen, including expanding outside of the Base ecosystem in ways that (to be honest) I wouldn’t like as a Base leader,” he wrote.

Pollack said Base’s priorities for the rest of 2026 will focus on commerce and payments Artificial intelligence agents.

“We will build a base in blockchain for global finance and do everything we can to be the place where the world’s money rests over the next century,” he wrote, adding that the company welcomes competition from Robinhood and tape. “But we welcome competition and believe it is our duty to earn the respect and commitment of those who rally under our banner.”