- Base will replace the Optimism Stack with a proprietary “unified Base stack”
- The move allows up to six hard forks per year instead of roughly three
- Base plans upgrades including ZK proofs, TEE integration, and fee changes
Coinbase’s layer 2 network, Base, announced it will transition away from the Optimism Stack and build what it calls a unified Base stack. That’s a significant structural change. Instead of relying on Optimism’s modular rollup framework, Base plans to develop its own proprietary infrastructure to streamline upgrades and reduce external dependencies.
On the surface, this sounds technical. Underneath, it’s about control. Owning more of the stack means fewer coordination bottlenecks and more freedom to iterate. For a network that has grown as quickly as Base, that flexibility matters more than it did at launch.
Faster Hard Forks Signal Aggressive Development
One of the clearest outcomes of this shift is speed. Base says the new architecture will allow it to deploy upgrades as often as six hard forks annually, compared with roughly three under the Optimism framework. That’s not a small tweak. It effectively doubles the cadence of protocol-level change.
In crypto infrastructure, upgrade velocity is a competitive advantage. Layer 2 networks are racing to optimize fees, throughput, and developer tooling. The faster you can adapt, the harder it is for rivals to leapfrog you.
Base Has Already Become a Major Ethereum Layer 2
Base launched in August 2023 using Optimism’s framework to accelerate deployment. That decision made sense at the time. It allowed Coinbase to move quickly without reinventing the entire stack from scratch.
Since then, Base has grown into one of the largest Ethereum scaling networks, with around 300,000 daily active addresses and roughly $3.8 billion in total value locked. At that scale, relying heavily on an external codebase becomes a strategic constraint. Building in-house infrastructure starts to look inevitable.
Users Are Safe for Now, but Node Operators Must Adapt
In the short term, regular users don’t need to take action. Existing RPCs will remain supported to avoid breaking integrations, which reduces immediate friction. Node operators, however, will need to migrate to the Base client ahead of future hard forks.
The roadmap outlines deeper technical shifts as well. Base plans to move from optimistic proofs toward TEE and ZK proofs, align more closely with Ethereum layer 1 upgrades, introduce new transaction types, and refine its fee model. These changes suggest Base isn’t just optimizing, it’s preparing for a longer-term evolution within the Ethereum ecosystem.
