Jesse Pollak, the creator of Coinbase's Base blockchain, has rejected criticism suggesting that the cryptocurrency exchange is “selling ETH,” describing the criticism as “wack” while highlighting the company’s significant position within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Pollak’s comments were highlighted in information shared by @coinbureau on X (@coinbureau), which reported his response to the ongoing discussion surrounding Coinbase’s Ethereum holdings.

According to Pollak, Coinbase is the largest “non-DAT ETH holder by an order of magnitude,” and he emphasized that the company is also one of Ethereum’s biggest users and a major contributor to EVM and Ethereum development.

The remarks come at a time when attention remains focused on the relationship between major cryptocurrency companies and their digital asset holdings.

Coinbase’s Standing as an ETH Holder

Pollak’s response centers on Coinbase’s position as a major holder of ETH outside the category of companies that operate dedicated digital asset treasury (DAT) strategies. In his statement, he described Coinbase as the largest non-DAT ETH holder by an order of magnitude, although he did not provide a specific ETH balance in the statement cited by @coinbureau. The DAT label has become shorthand for a cohort of publicly listed companies that raise capital specifically to accumulate digital assets as treasury holdings — a model popularized by Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, through its bitcoin purchases and extended to ETH in 2025 by treasury companies such as BitMine Immersion and SharpLink Gaming. That development has sharpened comparisons between firms holding ETH as a deliberate treasury strategy and other large corporate holders, which is the distinction underlying Pollak’s “non-DAT” framing.

The comment was made in response to criticism over the suggestion that Coinbase may be selling ETH. Rather than focusing exclusively on potential asset sales, Pollak pointed to the broader role Coinbase plays within Ethereum’s ecosystem. His argument emphasizes that the company’s relationship with Ethereum extends beyond simply holding the cryptocurrency.

One of Ethereum’s Biggest Users

Pollak also described Coinbase as one of Ethereum’s biggest users. The company has extensive involvement in the cryptocurrency infrastructure surrounding Ethereum, including its exchange operations and the Base blockchain network.

Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by Coinbase and designed to provide infrastructure for decentralized applications and transactions while remaining connected to Ethereum. The network opened to the public in 2023 and is built on the OP Stack, the open-source technology stack shared with the Optimism-aligned Superchain of Layer 2 networks, which ties Coinbase directly into Ethereum’s broader scaling effort. That relationship gives Coinbase a direct connection to the Ethereum ecosystem beyond its ETH holdings, and Pollak’s comments therefore frame the company as both a major holder and an active participant in the network.

Contributions to EVM and Ethereum Development

Another key point in Pollak’s response was Coinbase’s contribution to EVM and Ethereum development. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is the environment responsible for executing smart contracts on Ethereum, and it has also become a widely used technological standard across blockchain networks seeking compatibility with Ethereum-based applications and developer tools.

Coinbase’s involvement with Base further connects the company to this infrastructure. By highlighting the company’s contributions to EVM and Ethereum development, Pollak argued that Coinbase’s role should be viewed through multiple dimensions rather than solely through changes in its ETH holdings — a distinction that is relevant when assessing the company’s position within the Ethereum ecosystem.

What the Discussion Establishes About Coinbase’s ETH Activity

The original discussion centers on whether Coinbase is selling ETH, but the information shared by @coinbureau does not provide specific figures for any alleged ETH sales. Pollak’s response instead focuses on Coinbase’s overall position as a major ETH holder and Ethereum participant.

Cryptocurrency exchanges routinely manage digital assets for a variety of operational and customer-related purposes. Claims that an exchange is selling a particular asset frequently originate from blockchain analytics services that track large transfers between wallets labeled as belonging to trading platforms, though such transfers on their own do not show whether assets were sold, rebalanced or moved on behalf of customers. As a result, movements of digital assets associated with an exchange do not necessarily provide enough information on their own to establish a particular investment strategy. The statement cited by @coinbureau does not identify a specific transaction or provide evidence establishing the size or purpose of any alleged ETH sale.

Ethereum’s Role for Coinbase and Base

The exchange’s relationship with Ethereum has expanded well beyond cryptocurrency trading. Base provides Coinbase with a direct role in Ethereum-related blockchain infrastructure, while the company’s broader activities connect it to the developers, applications and users operating within the Ethereum ecosystem. This makes Coinbase an important participant in the network’s wider economy.

Pollak’s response reflects that broader relationship. His comments emphasize Coinbase’s ETH holdings while also pointing to its role as a major Ethereum user and a contributor to EVM and Ethereum development. For market participants, the discussion highlights why evaluating a company’s relationship with a blockchain may require more than examining its digital asset balance: holdings, network usage and development contributions can all provide different pieces of the picture.

Growing Focus on Corporate ETH Holdings

The debate also reflects the increasing attention being paid to how major cryptocurrency companies manage digital assets. As institutional participation in crypto develops, investors have increasingly monitored the holdings and transactions of companies with significant exposure to cryptocurrencies. Ethereum has become a particular focus because of its role as a major blockchain infrastructure platform and its extensive ecosystem of decentralized applications. Coinbase, which became the first major US-listed cryptocurrency exchange when it began trading on Nasdaq in 2021 under the ticker COIN, is also one of the few crypto-native companies whose finances are disclosed through regular public filings — a status that adds a further dimension to the scrutiny of its asset position.

Coinbase’s position is notable because the company participates in the Ethereum ecosystem through several channels. Pollak’s comments, as reported by @coinbureau, emphasize that broader involvement in his response to criticism over the company’s ETH activity.

For now, the information available does not establish the details behind the criticism or provide specific figures concerning Coinbase’s ETH transactions. What is clear from Pollak’s response is that he believes Coinbase’s role in Ethereum extends well beyond simply holding or selling ETH: the company is also a major Ethereum user and a contributor to EVM and Ethereum development, while Base provides another significant connection to the network.

Source: Hokanews — originally reported by Victoria Hale.