The Base team, creators of the layer 2 application-focused protocol under Coinbase, recently provided an update on their progress towards the mainnet launch, although no specific date has been announced. They have successfully met four out of their five launch criteria. One criterion remains before Base is fully prepared for the mainnet launch.
In their announcement on June 29, the team revealed that the network, powered by Optimism and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, underwent extensive security audits for a period of six months. These audits were conducted both internally and externally, serving as the penultimate requirement for the launch.
The Base team expressed their satisfaction with the completion of these audits, stating that they have now fulfilled 80% of the criteria needed for the mainnet launch. Importantly, no critical code bugs were discovered during the comprehensive security workstreams. This outcome has instilled confidence in the team to move forward and proceed towards the mainnet launch.
The Base team has successfully met three additional criteria as part of their preparation for the mainnet launch. These milestones include the implementation of a “Regolith” hard fork on the testnet, a thorough infrastructure review conducted with OP Labs (the team responsible for Optimism), and the successful implementation of Optimism’s “Bedrock” upgrade. These achievements signify significant progress towards the launch of Base on the mainnet.
Base by Coinbase: Advancing Ethereum with Layer-2 Innovations
On February 23, Coinbase officially launched Base, an initiative aimed at establishing a low-cost, secure, and developer-friendly network suitable for constructing decentralized applications.
To thoroughly assess the reliability of Optimism’s technology stack, Coinbase’s protocol security team conducted an internal audit. The objective was to uncover any potential vulnerabilities that might emerge across layer 1, layer 2, and the bridges.
In addition to Coinbase’s internal audit, Base extended an invitation to the wider community to participate in a public smart contract audit test through Code4rena. The purpose of this test was to allow individuals to report any bugs found within Optimism’s technology stack.
“We received contributions from more than 100 security researchers during this contest and are pleased to report that no significant vulnerabilities were discovered.”
The security researchers conducted audits covering various aspects, including Optimism’s node software, potential Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) equivalence vulnerabilities, bridge vulnerabilities, and other smart contract-related issues.
The community audit took place between May 27 and June 10, during which successful bounty hunters were eligible to receive rewards totaling up to $100,000.
According to a previous announcement from Base, the final criterion that needs to be fulfilled before the mainnet launch is to demonstrate the stability of the testnet.
Although the specific details regarding the fulfillment of the final criterion were not disclosed by Base, the team mentioned that they are currently in the process of reviewing submissions from the 100 researchers who participated in the public smart contract audit. Additionally, they are also considering feedback from previous audit programs, namely “spearbit” and “sherlock.”
Base also revealed the development of Pessimism, an open-source monitoring tool designed to alert developers about any abnormalities that might occur within the protocol. This tool aims to detect issues such as irregularities in account balances, contract events, or inconsistencies between Layer 1 and Layer 2 states.
Towards the end of March, Coinbase expressed their desire to witness the creation of an inflation-pegged “flatcoin,” an on-chain reputation system, and an on-chain limit order book exchange within the Base ecosystem.
When the news of Base was initially unveiled in late February, it was widely regarded as a significant endorsement of Ethereum. The project’s foundation on Ethereum, coupled with its utilization of the layer-2 network Optimism, further solidifies its objective of evolving into a robust platform for constructing decentralized applications.