Base Abandons Optimism Infrastructure for Independent Tech Stack

Base, a Coinbase-backed Ethereum Layer 2 network, has announced that it will be moving away from Optimism's OP Stack infrastructure to an independent tech stack. This change is aimed at reducing Base's reliance on external dependencies and increasing its hard fork schedule from three to six per year.

The new unified stack, designated 'base/base,' consolidates previously distributed codebase elements into a single repository built on open-source components including Reth. As part of this transition, node operators will need to migrate from Optimism releases to Base's client software to remain compatible with future network upgrades.

Base maintains Stage 1 decentralization status under Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's rollup classification system and will continue purchasing support from Optimism through its OP Enterprise program. The blockchain's roadmap includes transitioning from optimistic to TEE/ZK proofs in an upcoming hard fork, with subsequent releases planned to implement Ethereum's Fusaka and Glamsterdam upgrades.

Base currently holds $3.85 billion in total value locked, making it the largest blockchain in what was the OP Stack Superchain ecosystem. Optimism's OP token declined 4% in the 24 hours following the announcement.