"Least Supportive Major Chain?" Founder Calls Out Base Over Promises

Base may have shown up prominently at DevConnect, but not everyone in attendance walked away feeling aligned with the network’s direction.

The latest debate started when David Phelps, co-founder of Jokerace, published a post on X claiming that many founders building on Base felt under-supported, despite the chain’s branding around inclusivity and onboarding builders.

While Phelps has publicly voiced frustrations before, this time he framed the sentiment as widespread rather than personal, triggering a larger discussion about how chains position themselves when courting new projects.

Overpromised support, and focus on content coins claims

In his post, Phelps said numerous teams told him their main regret at DevConnect was choosing Base as their deployment chain.

His critique centered on a perceived mismatch between Base’s messaging that it is a chain “for everyone” and its visible promotional focus on content-driven tokens and creator coins,categories Phelps argued are losing momentum.

He noted that major on-chain platforms gaining traction elsewhere, such as Polymarket on Polygon and Pump.fun on Solana, illustrate that key growth apps are not choosing Base as their primary home.

Phelps also pointed to issues around distribution. He argued that teams ported tokens and liquidity to Base expecting user adoption, only to see engagement fall after launch, comparing the trend to cycles previously seen on Solana and Blast.

According to his post, the core issue is not only Base’s strategy but a broader pattern in crypto where chains promise distribution that they cannot meaningfully deliver.

This criticism resurfaced months after Phelps said he would stop publicly criticizing Base calling Jesse Pollak, Base’s lead contributor intentions “good.”.

At that time, he said Base informed him Jokerace would not receive promotional support, which he framed as helpful clarity. Still, the issues he raised then appeared to re-emerge during DevConnect discussions.

Base responds, defends its role and support strategy

Pollak issued a response emphasizing that Base continues to onboard and support builders through product updates, direct communication, and ecosystem tools such as the Base app.

He cited examples of applications such as zora and farcaster he believes demonstrate progress and reiterated that builders retain responsibility for driving adoption, even when receiving support from infrastructure providers.

Pollak also addressed Phelps directly, stating that the earlier feedback given to Jokerace was not meant as a rejection of the team broadly and adding that Phelps’ interpretation as a personal slight was unique among founders he has worked with.

He repeated that Base is open to all developers and encouraged anyone seeking assistance to contact him directly.

Despite disagreement, Phelps acknowledged Pollak’s response positively and shared a screenshot of their exchange, calling it a “grade-A response.”.

He also noted that Base still has long-term advantages, including Coinbase’s backing, stablecoin liquidity, and network effects, though he argued these do not resolve concerns around distribution for new apps.

As the debate continues, Phelps suggested that emerging chains like MegaETH and Abstract may attempt to differentiate by offering more targeted support and incentive structures.

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