Base reaches 'stage 1' in Ethereum rollup decentralization with fault proofs and security council

The developers at Coinbase-incubated Ethereum Layer 2 rollup Base said the network has reached “stage 1” in Vitalik Buterin’s framework for rollup decentralization, showing progress toward reducing reliance on centralized actors.

“Base has achieved stage 1 decentralization, a critical milestone in our journey to build an open and global onchain economy. We’ve done this by launching permissionless fault proofs and increasing the decentralization of our contract upgrade process with a security council,” the team at Base said.

Launched in August 2023, Base was developed with Optimism’s OP Stack package and has since grown to be the largest Layer 2 rollup on Ethereum by total value locked.

Previously, Base was classified as a stage 0 rollup primarily because it still relied on a centralized sequencer controlled by Coinbase and lacked a fully operational permissionless fault proofs on its mainnet. Stage 0 (also called the "training wheels" phase) is when the rollup is heavily reliant on centralized entities, such as the project team or operator, for key functions like state validation, transaction sequencing, and upgrades.

Taking the first step toward achieving stage 1 decentralization, Base implemented fault proofs on its mainnet in October last year. This change allowed anyone to monitor and challenge invalid withdrawals without permission. Fault proofs act as a mechanism for Ethereum Layer 2 networks, permitting users to challenge potentially fraudulent or incorrect transactions.

However, despite this milestone, Base had not yet achieved stage 1 decentralization. This is because additional requirements for stage 1 — such as a fully operational security council with decentralized governance (e.g., a multisig requiring 75% signatures, with over 26% from external members) and further reduction of Coinbase’s control over the sequencer — had not been fully met.

While fault proofs are a critical component, stage 1 needed a permissionless validation system and protections against single-entity control, which have now been implemented. Base said it has introduced a “security council” to decentralize contract upgrades. It includes 10 independent entities and requires 75% consensus (among the Council, Base, and Optimism) for any software upgrades. 

Stage 1 status to reduce trust assumptions on Base

With fault proofs and a decentralized security council in place, network functionality and upgrades are in the hands of a broad set of diverse stakeholders, the team claims.

Furthermore, with this development, builders on the network have infrastructure certainty, and the platform can’t change the rules unexpectedly. It potentially reduces trust assumptions and central points of failure.

“Achieving stage 1 decentralization means Base now has stronger security guarantees and reduced trust assumptions. With fault proofs and a decentralized Security Council in place, network functionality and upgrades are in the hands of a broad set of diverse stakeholders,” the team noted.