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Coinbase-incubated (NASDAQ:COIN) Ethereum Layer 2 Base is “exploring” the launch of a native token after denying any plans of doing so for years, according to Coinbase Head of Protocols Jesse Pollak.

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“We’re going to be exploring a network token for base,” Pollak said Monday at a Base-hosted event.

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Pollak suggested that the Base team has shifted its stance to pursue greater decentralization, align economic incentives and “unlock new systems.”

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“I will be upfront with y’all, it’s early,” Pollak said, stressing that the team behind the protocol had yet to figure out all the details. Still, he said that the team was committed to designing the token openly, with the help of the community.

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Pollak also said that despite the token plans, Base remained “committed to building on Ethereum,” preemptively addressing anticipated questions about the network’s Ethereum alignment.

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Pollak assured the audience that Base was going to get the token launch “right,” citing Coinbase’s reputation and hinting at potential collaboration with regulators and lawmakers.

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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shared the Base token announcement on Monday on X, stressing that there were no concrete plans yet.

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“To be clear, there are no definitive plans,” he said. “We’re just updating our philosophy. As of now, we’re exploring it.”

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“We’re in the early phases of our exploration, and don’t have any specifics to share around timing, design, or governance,” the Base team reiterated in a Monday blog post.

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The recent announcement of Base token plans is likely to bolster activity on the already popular Ethereum Layer 2 chain as users try to secure a potential token airdrop. According to L2Beat data, Base is the second-largest Layer 2 by total value locked at nearly $16 billion. In the past 30 days, the network has processed over 330 million transactions, far surpassing the roughly 49 million transactions processed on Ethereum.

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​The Base team’s token announcement comes amid a more friendly U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory backdrop. When Base launched in 2023, the position of then-Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler was that most cryptocurrency tokens were unregistered securities. Coinbase was the target of a lawsuit questioning its listing of certain assets, which were labeled as unregistered securities by the regulator.