Coinbase Plans to Transition Base to a Fully Decentralized Model

The development team has announced plans to transition Base to a fully decentralized model, moving away from exclusive control by Coinbase.

Decentralization Plan:

• Collaboration: Coinbase is working with the decentralized autonomous organization Optimism Collective and OP Labs to decentralize Base. However, no specific timeline has been provided for this transition.

Implementation Details:

• Fault Proof Module: The decentralization process involves deploying a fault proof module and utilizing multi-server software to ensure Base remains censorship-resistant and independent of any single entity.
• Statement from Jesse Pollak: Jesse Pollak, Head of Protocols at Coinbase, stated, "We are thrilled to see OP Labs and OP Stack contributors making significant progress towards decentralization, notably with fault proofs. We are working closely with the development teams to ensure Base adopts these advancements as soon as they are ready."

Neutrality Principles:

Coinbase recently shared a blog post outlining "5 neutrality principles" for Base:

1. Respect the rules of the blockchain.
2. Your keys, your crypto.
3. Crypto transactions are a free market.
4. Equal access to information.
5. Freedom to exit positions.

Base's Contributions and Collaborations:

• Contribution to OP Mainnet: Base has been contributing significantly to the OP Mainnet ecosystem. It has established a deep partnership with Optimism Collective. After covering costs, Base will contribute 15% of its profits from layer-2 transactions to Optimism Collective. In return, Base could receive up to 2.75% of the OP supply over the next six years.
• Security Council: The core team of Base plans to establish a "security council" for the Superchain, which will oversee security reviews to ensure both security and decentralization for Base, OP Mainnet, and related chains.

Base Overview:

• Technology: Base operates on OP Stack technology from OP Mainnet (formerly Optimism). It launched a limited mainnet for builders on 13/07 and opened to the public on 09/08.
• Rapid Growth: Despite being a young network, Base quickly attracted significant interest, reaching 100,000 users and $100 million TVL within less than a month, driven in part by the social media wave from friend.tech.
• Challenges: Alongside its success, Base has faced challenges with incidents such as memecoin rug pulls and exploits involving LeetSwap and RocketSwap.

The transition to a fully decentralized model reflects Coinbase’s commitment to enhancing the resilience and independence of Base, reinforcing its potential within the DeFi ecosystem.