Introduction to Base: Coinbase's Layer 2 Chain

Base is an L2 chain developed by Coinbase and targeting "the Next Billion Users,". Coinbase has already announced its aim to integrate all its on-chain products into Base and create a completely open ecosystem allowing anyone to develop whatever they wish.

In this blog post, we look at its value proposition, competitors, progress so far, and what is in store for its future.

On August 9th, 2023 the network successfully transitioned to mainnet and achieved an impressive start by facilitating the bridging of over 100,000 ETH from Ethereum to Base within the first 20 days. Upon launch, the Base ecosystem boasted over 100 dapps and service providers, coupled with extensive integrations across the Coinbase product ecosystem, which led to a swift rise in user numbers.

A crucial decision in building the chain was choosing the infrastructure. They decided to benefit from Ethereum's reputation as a significant chain in smart contract-based networks. However, to address scaling issues and other improvements, they opted to become a Layer 2 (L2) network. They opted for Optimism's OP Stack - a standardized, modular, and rollup-agnostic framework - augmented by the Superchain architecture. Base is the second L2 after Optimism Mainnet deployed on the OP Stack and aims to be part of the Superchain.

An Overcrowded Zone

There are now dozens of L2s on Ethereum and you can see a comprehensive list here. Currently, 36 active L2 projects are visible, as shown in the image below ??

In a crowded and competitive market, what does Base offer to users? What are its focus areas?

Key Value Propositions:

• Empowered by Coinbase: Base facilitates the development of decentralized apps with access to Coinbase's products, users, and tools. It offers seamless Coinbase product integrations, easy fiat onramps, and powerful acquisition tools for developers to join the Coinbase ecosystem.
• Big Features, Small Fees: Base provides full EVM compatibility at lower costs and is committed to advancing the developer platform. It enables protocols to set up gasless transactions for dapps and securely build multichain applications with easy-to-use bridges.
• A Bridge, Not an Island: Base is designed for easy, secure access to Ethereum L1, other L2s, and different L1 ecosystems. It encourages Coinbase customers to start on Base but also explore other crypto ecosystems, acting as a "bridge."

In 2023, Base is set to evolve from a Stage 0 to a Stage 1 rollup, and further to a Stage 2 rollup in 2024, taking advantage of the enhanced resources Coinbase is contributing to the OP Stack.

How Does Base Handle L1<>L2 Communication?

Base uses Optimism's unmodified native Bedrock bridge. This bridge has undergone audits from both the Optimism and Base sides and secures billions in TVL on the Optimism mainnet.

From L1 to L2:

• Users can send arbitrary messages from L1 to L2.
• User calls the bridge contract on L1.
• Messages sent to the bridge are included in blocks on L2 by the Base sequencer.
• Sequencer must include L1 messages on L2 within a certain time window.
• After this window, decentralized validator nodes automatically include L1 messages.

From L2 to L1:

• User calls bridge contract on L2.
• L2 state trie root is committed back to L1 by the sequencer.
• Transaction enters a pending state known as the challenge window.
• State commitment can be removed during the challenge window.
• Once fault proofs are implemented, anyone can challenge the state commitment.

Similar to many rollups, Base is still in the process of developing key features, particularly in areas such as State Validation, Exit Window, and Proposer Failure.

Base plans for 2024

• Partnering with Optimism to launch fault proofs and become a stage 1 rollup.
• Working on alternative fault proof systems and transitioning to Stage 2.
• Supporting the launch of the Optimism Security Council.
• Launching EIP4844 in Ethereum2, extending its support to Base and Optimism.
• Contributing to Danksharding research and exploring PeerDAS.
• Bringing transaction-specific compressions to the OP Stack to further reduce costs.
• Standardizing smart contract usage (Paymaster standardization).
• Contributing to EIP3074 and EIP5003.
• Expanding Base Grant programs and establishing systems like RPGF.

Base Community Engagement

• Weekly Discord calls to showcase various projects.

https://twitter.com/base/status/1669376064341311488

• High activity in IRL events.

• The Onchain Summer event brought together many applications and users (e.g., Bungee, Openbase, Covalent, Sushi, Wormhole, Reservoir, Uniswap, and many more dapps went live on the network during this period).
• Applications like Basepaint allow users to regularly engage and become part of the community.

https://twitter.com/basepaint_xyz/status/1692577764153475104

https://twitter.com/base/status/1710339284107223323

• Ongoing support for different creators & designers in the community through NFT mints and interactions.

Looking Ahead

Base has made a swift and impressive entry into the L2 landscape and currently holds over $700M in assets. Its actions in attracting and retaining users in the Web3 community appear to be working as evidenced by its Twitter activities. However, Base still has many technical steps and improvements to make but the effort they're putting into EIP4844 is significant. Close collaboration with the Optimism core team and other chains joining the evolving Superchain ecosystem will likely accelerate this process. We'll get a closer look at the L2 race's development in 2024.

To stay updated with the latest innovations in the Base ecosystem, feel free to visit the Base Dashboard ??

https://app.alphaday.com/b/base/