Base Unveils Cobalt Upgrade with Advanced Trade Functionality

Base has launched its third major network upgrade, Cobalt, which brings increased control over transaction execution and new growth opportunities for the B20 token standard. The update addresses two key areas: advanced trade functionality via validity transactions and enhanced support for Foundation's tokenized finance assets.

Cobalt introduces Validity Transactions, allowing users to sign and submit a transaction before its execution conditions are satisfied. Instead of repeatedly monitoring the market and resubmitting orders, traders can specify conditions such as an asset price threshold and a block-number deadline.

For instance, a trader can place a swap that only takes place when a token sees 4,000 USDC before a particular block. If the price condition is not met before the deadline, no transaction will be added. Users must still select the transaction and define both the conditions and the transaction.

The upgrade also includes B20, a native token standard for stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, and fungible assets. One new feature, Composite Policies, enables issuers to create AND and OR combinations based on various compliance rules.