Chains

What a bank does here: it picks the rails — you never see them. What you do instead: you choose which blockchain your money lives on. That choice sets your fees, your speed, which apps you can use and which risks you take on.

Key concepts

• Layer 1 (L1). A base blockchain with its own validators, such as Ethereum or Solana.
• Layer 2 (L2). A network such as Base or Arbitrum that batches transactions and settles them to Ethereum, cutting fees.
• TVL. Total value locked — a rough gauge of how much money trusts a chain or app. Big is not the same as safe.
• Rate differences. The same asset can pay differently on different chains. In late September 2026, Aave USDC supply rates were about 3.98% on Base and 4.92% on Arbitrum (variable).
• Trade-offs. Cheaper chains can carry extra assumptions — sequencers, bridges or newer code — that mainnet Ethereum does not.

A quick comparison

Chain	Type	Typical fees	Self-banking notes
Ethereum	L1	Highest	Deepest DeFi liquidity, longest track record
Base	Ethereum L2	Low	Close ties to Coinbase; home of Coinbase’s Morpho-based loans
Arbitrum	Ethereum L2	Low	Large DeFi ecosystem; L2 rates often a little higher than mainnet
Solana	L1	Very low	Fast; its own app ecosystem (Kamino, Jupiter, Jito)

Check your understanding

Guides in this track

• Ethereum vs Base vs Arbitrum vs Solana for Self-Banking

Education only, not financial advice. Rates change and are not guaranteed. CoinPayBank is not a bank.