Toshi, Keyboard Cat, Basenji prices rise as Base DEX volume spikes

Meme coins in the Base layer-2 blockchain were among the top performers on Friday as the ecosystem continued to gain traction.

Toshi toshi-5.62% Toshi surged by over 70%, pushing its market cap to more than $237 million and making it the third-largest meme coin on Base, following Brett and Akuma Inu. Its rally came after being listed on Coinbase, the largest exchange in the U.S.

This listing boosted TOSHI’s 24-hour trading volume to $165 million. According to Nansen, a whale purchased Toshi tokens worth over $3.16 million.

Keyboard Cat keycat-12.6% Keyboard Cat (Base) was another standout meme coin in the Base ecosystem, jumping by 46% and lifting its market cap to $8.2 million. Meanwhile, Basenji benji-12.07% Basenji Doginme also performed well, each climbing by over 20%.

Meme coins on Base have steadily gained market share in the crypto space, with the ecosystem now boasting a total market cap of over $2.5 billion.

These coins have played a key role in transforming Base from a relatively small blockchain network into one of the largest layer-2 network in crypto. According to DeFi Llama, protocols within the Base blockchain handled $1.24 billion in trading volume on Friday and $12.98 billion over the past seven days—a 13% increase.

Base protocols such as Uniswap, Aerodrome, PancakeSwap, and Alien Base have processed transactions worth more than $60 billion in the past 30 days. This growth has driven higher fees within the ecosystem, which has already generated $10.64 million in fees this year and $93 million over the last 12 months.

Meme coins have helped to propel other chains higher in the past few years. For example, meme coins like Official Trump trump-4.81% Official Trump, Fartcoin, and Dogwifhat have helped to make Solana the most active network in crypto since 2024. According to TokenTerminal, it has even passed Ethereum in fees this year.