Getting Started with Agentic Wallets on Base: A Developer's Guide

Base is the optimal deployment chain for agentic wallets, offering gasless transactions that eliminate operational risk from insufficient gas fees and enabling micro-payment business models by removing transaction costs that would erode profits. Launched by Coinbase as an Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base provides 2-second block times, EVM compatibility, and subsidized gas fees for agentic wallet users, making it the default choice for AI agents requiring frequent, low-value transactions without the $10-50 gas costs typical of Ethereum mainnet.

What You'll Learn

• Why Base is ideal for agentic wallets (gasless transactions, L2 speed, Coinbase integration)
• How gasless transactions work and why they matter for autonomous agents
• Supported chains and networks beyond Base (multi-chain capabilities)
• Building your first agent on Base (step-by-step with code examples)
• Cross-chain strategies (bridging when opportunities exist elsewhere)

Why Base for Agentic Wallets?

Base offers three critical advantages for autonomous AI agents: gasless transactions, fast finality, and seamless Coinbase ecosystem integration.

Advantage 1: Gasless Transactions

The gas problem on Ethereum L1:

• Average gas cost: $10-50 per transaction during network congestion
• Simple token transfer: $5-15 in gas
• DeFi swap: $20-100 in gas depending on complexity

Impact on agents: Agent rebalancing $1,000 DeFi position for 0.5% APY improvement ($5 gain):

• Ethereum L1 gas cost: $30
• Net result: -$25 (lose money on the rebalancing)
• Conclusion: Micro-optimization strategies economically impossible

Base solution:

• Gas cost for agentic wallet users: $0
• Coinbase subsidizes transaction fees
• Same $1,000 rebalancing now costs $0 in gas
• $5 APY gain is pure profit
• Micro-optimization becomes viable

Gasless transaction scope: All agentic wallet operations on Base are gasless:

• Token transfers (send USDC, ETH, other ERC-20s)
• DEX swaps (trade on Uniswap, Aerodrome, other Base DEXs)
• DeFi deposits/withdrawals (Aave, Compound, Morpho on Base)
• Pre-built skills (trade, earn, send)

Economic viability unlocked:

• API payments ($0.001-$0.01) viable without gas eroding value
• High-frequency rebalancing (multiple times daily) economically sustainable
• Micro-payments between agents possible (sub-dollar transactions)

Advantage 2: Fast Finality

Block time: 2 seconds (compared to 12 seconds on Ethereum L1) Finality: Transactions considered final after confirmation (2 seconds)

Impact on agents:

• API payment workflow completes in under 5 seconds total
• Agents can execute 30+ transactions per minute if needed
• Near-instant feedback for decision loops

Comparison:

Chain	Block Time	Transaction Finality	Agent Workflow Speed
Ethereum L1	12 seconds	12+ seconds	Slow (75 seconds per loop)
Base L2	2 seconds	2 seconds	Fast (5 seconds per loop)
Solana	400ms	~1 second	Very fast (2 seconds per loop)

Use case: Agent monitoring arbitrage opportunities needs fast execution. Base enables sub-10-second complete cycles from detection to execution confirmation.

Advantage 3: Coinbase Ecosystem Integration

Native integration benefits:

• Agentic wallets designed specifically for Base
• CDP Portal dashboard optimized for Base monitoring
• Seamless on-ramp from Coinbase exchange to Base L2
• Future features prioritize Base (new protocols, integrations)

Developer experience:

• One-command deployment targets Base by default
• No manual network configuration required
• Built-in Base testnet support for development

How Gasless Transactions Work

Subsidy Model

Traditional transaction model:

1. User initiates transaction
2. User pays gas fee (in ETH) to validator
3. Validator includes transaction in block
4. Transaction executes

Base gasless model (for agentic wallets):

1. Agent initiates transaction via CDP API
2. Coinbase pays gas fee on behalf of agent
3. Validator includes transaction in block
4. Transaction executes

Agent's perspective: Submit transaction, receive confirmation. No gas management required.

Why Coinbase Subsidizes Gas

Strategic alignment:

• Increased Base adoption (more transactions, higher TVL)
• Developer attraction (free infrastructure lowers barriers)
• Agent ecosystem growth (more agents on Base = more activity)
• Future revenue (protocol-level fees, not infrastructure fees)

Sustainability: Base gas costs are extremely low (fractions of a cent per transaction). Subsidizing for agentic wallet users creates minimal cost while maximizing ecosystem growth.

Gasless Limitations

What IS gasless on Base:

• All agentic wallet operations (send, trade, earn skills)
• Transactions through CDP API
• Pre-integrated DeFi protocols

What is NOT gasless:

• Custom smart contract deployments (requires manual gas payment)
• Direct wallet interactions outside CDP API
• Some exotic DeFi protocols not yet integrated

Practical impact: 95%+ of agent operations are gasless. The 5% requiring gas are specialized custom operations.

Supported Chains and Networks

While Base is optimal, agentic wallets support multi-chain deployment.

Currently Supported

EVM-compatible chains:

• Base (Coinbase L2) - Gasless, recommended
• Ethereum mainnet - Full support, standard gas fees
• Arbitrum - Full support, low gas fees
• Optimism - Full support, low gas fees
• Polygon - Full support, very low gas fees

Non-EVM chains:

• Solana - Full support, low transaction fees (<$0.01)

Chain Selection Strategy

Choose Base when:

• Operations are frequent (multiple transactions daily)
• Transaction values are small (micro-payments, API costs)
• Cost sensitivity is high (gas would erode profits)
• Default choice for most agentic wallet deployments

Choose other chains when:

• Specific protocol only available elsewhere (e.g., Solana DeFi unique to Solana)
• Liquidity concentrated on other chain (e.g., largest USDC/ETH pool on Arbitrum)
• Cross-chain strategy requires presence on multiple networks

Multi-chain deployment: Deploy same agent logic across multiple chains:

Deploy on Base (primary)

cdp agent create --network base --email agent@example.com

Deploy on Arbitrum (secondary)

cdp agent create --network arbitrum --email agent-arb@example.com

Agent can manage positions across both chains

Building Your First Agent on Base

Prerequisites

Installed:

• CDP CLI
• Node.js 16+ or Python 3.8+
• Code editor

Funded:

• USDC on Base (minimum $10 for testing)

Step 1: Provision Agentic Wallet on Base

Create agent wallet (Base is default)

cdp agent create --email my-base-agent@example.com

Verify network

cdp agent info

Output: Network: base

Step 2: Fund Wallet

Get wallet address

cdp agent address

Output: 0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f0bEb0

Transfer USDC from Coinbase to agent address

(Use Coinbase app: Send USDC to address above, select Base network)

Step 3: Configure Guardrails

cdp agent config set-limits \
--session-cap 100 \
--transaction-limit 25 \
--session-duration 24h

Step 4: Deploy Skills

cdp skills deploy --skills=send,trade,earn

Step 5: Write Agent Code

// agent.js - Simple Base agent
const { AgenticWallet } = require('@coinbase/cdp');

async function main() {
// Initialize wallet
const wallet = AgenticWallet.from_credentials('~/.cdp/credentials.json');

// Verify we're on Base
const info = await wallet.getInfo();
console.log(Agent operating on ${info.network}); // "base"

// Example: Monitor USDC balance and earn when above threshold
setInterval(async () => {
const balance = await wallet.getBalance('USDC');
console.log(Current balance: ${balance} USDC);

if (balance > 50) {  
  // Deposit excess to Aave for yield  
  await wallet.earn({  
    protocol: 'aave',  
    action: 'deposit',  
    amount: balance - 50, // Keep 50 USDC as buffer  
    currency: 'USDC'  
  });  
    
  console.log('Deposited to Aave for yield (gasless on Base!)');  
}  

}, 60000); // Check every minute
}

main();

Step 6: Run Agent

node agent.js

Output:

Agent operating on base

Current balance: 75 USDC

Deposited to Aave for yield (gasless on Base!)

Observe: Every transaction completes without gas fees. Agent can rebalance hourly without cost concerns.

Cross-Chain Capabilities

Agents can operate primarily on Base while accessing opportunities on other chains.

When to Bridge

Scenario 1: Better yield elsewhere

• Base Aave offers 4.2% APY on USDC
• Arbitrum Aave offers 5.8% APY on USDC
• Yield differential: 1.6%

Decision: Bridge to Arbitrum if:

• Position size makes gas worthwhile ($1,000+ typically)
• Expected to remain optimal for extended period (weeks)
• Bridge costs < expected yield improvement

Bridge Workflow

Manual bridge:

Bridge USDC from Base to Arbitrum

cdp bridge transfer \
--from base \
--to arbitrum \
--amount 1000 \
--currency USDC

Wait for bridge confirmation (5-10 minutes)

Deploy on Arbitrum

cdp agent create --network arbitrum --email agent-arb@example.com

Automated bridge (advanced):

// Agent monitors yields across chains and bridges automatically
async function optimizeYieldCrossChain() {
const baseAPY = await getAPY('base', 'aave', 'USDC');
const arbAPY = await getAPY('arbitrum', 'aave', 'USDC');

if (arbAPY - baseAPY > 1.5) {
// Bridge to Arbitrum if differential exceeds threshold
await wallet.bridge({
from: 'base',
to: 'arbitrum',
amount: balance,
currency: 'USDC'
});
}
}

Multi-Chain Portfolio Management

Strategy: Maintain primary operations on Base, bridge to other chains for specific opportunities.

Architecture:

• Base wallet: Primary (80% of funds), gasless operations
• Arbitrum wallet: Secondary (15% of funds), alternate DeFi opportunities
• Ethereum L1 wallet: Tertiary (5% of funds), access to protocols not yet on L2

Benefit: Optimize gas costs (most transactions gasless on Base) while accessing full opportunity set across chains.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What happens if Base network has downtime? Base inherits Ethereum L1 security. Worst case: transactions delayed until Base resumes. Funds remain safe on Ethereum L1. Agents can fall back to Ethereum L1 operations if Base is unavailable (with gas costs).

Q: Are gasless transactions truly unlimited? Practically yes for normal agent operations. Coinbase may implement fair-use policies to prevent abuse (e.g., blocking spam or clearly malicious usage), but legitimate high-frequency agent operations are supported.

Q: Can I use Base with non-Coinbase agents? Yes. Base is public blockchain; anyone can deploy and transact. Gasless benefits are specific to Coinbase agentic wallets, but non-Coinbase agents can use Base with standard gas fees (still much lower than Ethereum L1).

Q: How do I test on Base without real funds? Use Base testnet (Sepolia Base):

cdp agent create --network base-sepolia --email test-agent@example.com

Get test USDC from faucet, test all operations without financial risk.

Q: Can agents deploy custom smart contracts on Base? Yes, but custom deployments are not gasless. Agent must maintain ETH balance for gas when deploying contracts. Pre-built operations (send, trade, earn) remain gasless.

Q: What's the relationship between Base and Coinbase Layer 2? Base IS the Coinbase Layer 2. Same network, different names. "Base" is the public brand; technically it's "Coinbase's Ethereum L2."

---

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"@type": "TechArticle",
"headline": "Getting Started with Agentic Wallets on Base: A Developer's Guide",
"description": "Complete guide to deploying AI agents on Base Layer 2 with gasless transactions, including setup, code examples, and cross-chain strategies.",
"datePublished": "2026-02-15"
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