BASE aims to function as a synthetic asset which represents speculation on the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies (cmc). This is made possible through an elastic supply characteristic and programmatic rebasing protocol which incentivize market actors to drive BASE price to its target (peg) price.

Early on, qualitative factors like new adoption and speculation may disrupt that peg. But as the network grows, the peg stabilizes. In its early stages, BASE is a speculative asset that seeks to peg to cmc. In its final state, BASE is a synthetic asset that is stably pegged to cmc.

Although 'BASE' was the ticker assigned at the deployment of the Base Protocol Token's smart contract, it is already in use by another asset that has a larger market presence and higher trading volume on major exchanges. Due to this pre-existing association and to avoid confusion in the marketplace, the alternative ticker 'BASEPROTOCOL' has been adopted for this token. This designation is specifically used to ensure that assets are distinctly identified.