Base Network Activates Cobalt Upgrade with Improved Flexibility and Efficiency

Cobalt, the latest upgrade to Base, the Coinbase-backed Ethereum Layer 2 network, has successfully activated on mainnet. The upgrade landed without significant disruptions after a week-long trial run on the Sepolia test network and brings several key engineering improvements.

The Cobalt upgrade refines the B20 native token standard, making it more reliable and consistent for end users. It also introduces validity and conditional transactions, which allow transactions to execute only if specific on-chain conditions are met.

Furthermore, Cobalt establishes a framework for dynamic on-chain upgrade scheduling, reducing operational friction and downtime for node operators. The upgrade also accelerates the registration process for Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) signers by moving verification fully on-chain.