Base Ditches Optimistic Rollups for $12 Billion Bet on Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Coinbase's Base network is overhauling its security model to adopt zero-knowledge proofs, replacing optimistic rollups. The change will combine a trusted execution environment with ZK proofs to secure chain finality.

The $12 billion network, which runs on the Ethereum (ETH) Layer 2, will use Succinct Labs' SP1 open-source zkVM to generate succinct ZK proofs of arbitrary Rust-based computation. This move is expected to cut the path to one-day settlement.

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, has described zk-EVMs as Ethereum's block validation endgame, predicting they will become dominant between 2027 and 2030. Wilson Cussak, head of Base Chain, said the upgrade is meant to deepen the network's security and resiliency.