Base's vision of becoming the infrastructure backbone for an onchain global economy makes a native token feel less like an optional add-on and more like an inevitable structural requirement. It's not simply about creating speculative assets—a purpose-built token serves as the connective tissue for governance, aligning incentives across the ecosystem, and sustaining long-term network effects. When you're building the foundation layer, the token mechanics become integral to how the entire system scales, coordinates, and rewards participants. Whether through validator economics, protocol governance, or ecosystem development, the token becomes the native language through which the network operates. That's why the conversation has shifted from "will Base need a token?" to "how will Base's token function within this larger economic infrastructure?"