- Coinbase’s Base has taken a significant step toward achieving the decentralization milestone set by Vitalik Buterin.
- The move promises to revolutionize the networkโs security by empowering its users.
- Following the move, the network is only one goal away from clinching the Vitalik set milestone.
“Stage 1 or bust,” Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin fumed in September 2024 as he expressed frustration over the pace of Layer 2 decentralization, urging rollups to take a significant step toward cryptographic security. These words appear to have hit home.
Just over a month after Vitalik’s rant, Coinbase-incubated Ethereum Layer 2 Base has now disclosed that it has taken a major step toward clinching the developerโs lofty goal.
Fault Proofs Go Live on Coinbase’s Base
Coinbase’s Base has taken a significant step toward achieving Vitalik Buterin’s decentralization milestone. In a Wednesday, October 30, blog post, the project announced that fault proofs were now live on the network, in line with plans unveiled a week ago, satisfying a major criterion needed to become a stage 1 roll-up.
Sponsored
Fault proofs are cryptographic proofs generated by verifiers (blockchain participants checking network transaction validity) when network operators attempt to pass incorrect transaction data from the Layer 2 chain to the base chain. As such, the fault-proof system helps keep the Layer 2 chain honest.
With the implementation of this system, anyone can now permissionlessly withdraw assets from the network and participate in securing the network by challenging potentially fraudulent withdrawal attempts.
Moreover, following the implementation of fault proofs, the network is now just one step away from achieving Vitalik Buterin’s lofty decentralization milestone.
Coinbase’s Base Unveils Security Council Plans
Beyond implementing fraud proofs, a stage 1 rollup needs to have limited training wheels in the form of a sufficiently decentralized “security council” to override the fault-proof system in the event of a bug and also to approve protocol upgrades. Specifically, Vitalik suggests that this security council be built on a multisig requiring 75% of signatures with more than 26% of the members from outside the development team.
As disclosed by Base, however, the team currently overseeing the networkโs upgrades primarily comprises contributors from the Base and Optimism teams. But the network has pledged to alter this status quo in the upcoming months.
At the same time, Base has committed to moving toward stage 2 or full decentralization in 2025. This stage entails no training wheels and the implementation of multiple-proof systems.
On the Flipside
- Base’s fault-proof system has yet to be battle-tested.
- Layer 2 chains such as Arbitrum One, OP Mainnet, and ZKsync Lite have already achieved stage 1 status, according to L2Beat data at the time of writing.
Why This Matters
Base is TVL’s largest Layer 2 chain, with nearly $2.7 billion. Implementing fault proofs greatly enhances the network’s security.
Read this for more on Coinbase’s Base decentralization efforts:
Coinbaseโs Base Takes First Major Step in Decentralization Push
Wondering when Bitcoin’s price will hit $100,000? See what 10x Research has to say:
Bitcoin Will Hit Coveted $100K Target in January 2025: 10x Research
