GMGN contest inflates Base address count without boosting real activity

On October 22 Base recorded a sudden 49.9 % jump in daily active addresses to 943,277. The spike followed the launch of a GMGN trading contest offering a $20,000 prize pool, which required participants to use brand-new wallets with no prior activity.

Real usage metrics moved in the opposite direction: transactions fell 8.6 % to 9.58 million and user fees dropped 20 % to roughly $91,059. BaseScan data confirmed the same decline.

By October 23 the surge had already begun to fade, with active addresses falling 38 % to 584,540. Contest rules capped starting capital at $2,000 and forced creation of fresh addresses, making the increase temporary rather than organic.

Based on information from cryptonews.net