Base, the layer-2 network launched by Coinbase in August 2022, is now at “stage 1” rollup status. This milestone is a very promising step toward greater decentralization. This shift further eliminates the centralized nature of the network, getting it one step nearer to complete decentralization.
The “stage 1” designation refers to a framework developed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. He ranked platforms based on how decentralized they are. Networks at this stage cannot operate without certain safeguards that trade aspects of decentralization for increased security and efficiency.
As of this writing from L2Beat, Base quietly overtook Arbitrum to be the largest rollup, with $11.72 billion locked into Base’s protocol. This transition will allow Base to be less reliant on Coinbase itself.
A major highlight of this upgrade has been the introduction of permissionless fault proofs on Base. This feature empowers anyone to independently verify the state of transactions on the network without needing to rely on a central authority.
["These are folks from the Base ecosystem and from the broader Ethereum ecosystem, who will help approve certain network upgrades if needed."] - Tom Vieira
The transition to “stage 1” is a significant milestone in Base’s path to full decentralization. Vitalik Buterin has stated publicly that he would only discuss a layer-2 network if it had reached at least stage 1.
