Glossary · Infrastructure

What is Base?

Base is Coinbase's Ethereum layer 2, chain ID 8453. Fees are paid in ETH and usually cost cents, and funds arrive from Coinbase as a plain withdrawal.

How does Base work?

Base opened to the public in August 2023 as an optimistic rollup on Optimism's OP Stack. Coinbase's user base did the rest. It turned into a major home for USDC, consumer apps, payments and memecoins.

This year changed the plumbing. In February, Base said it would consolidate on a stack it runs itself, still compatible with the OP Stack spec, and keep working with Optimism as a client of OP Enterprise. The Azul upgrade in late May 2026 added multiproofs: a TEE prover and a ZK prover, either of which can back a state proposal on its own. When both proofs back a proposal, a withdrawal can finalize in about a day. Base says that path is rarely used, because ZK proofs are expensive to generate. The standard wait moved in June instead: the Beryl upgrade cut it from seven days to five.

Blocks still come every 2 seconds, with 200ms Flashblocks preconfirmations inside them since July 2025. Coinbase runs the single sequencer. That keeps fees low and confirmations quick. It is also the centralization point critics bring up first.

A quick run: you withdraw 300 USDC from Coinbase to Base, swap 100 of it on Aerodrome for a few cents in fees, and see the new balance under the same 0x address you use on Ethereum.

Also called: Base network, Base chain, Base L2.

Where does Base show up in Cashboard?

Base has its own group in the Add panel. Base pulse shows block time, gas with transfer and swap costs in dollars, live TPS, TVL and spot DEX volume, and Base launches lists new and trending Zora coins or the newest Clanker tokens. The watch-only portfolio reads a 0x address on Base through Blockscout. In the desktop app you can add a Coinbase RPC URL as a backup, which keeps the ETH balance visible if Blockscout does not answer. Chain status shows how old the latest Base block is, what gas costs and how fast the RPC answers, and Trending on-chain ranks Base pools from GeckoTerminal. Base Desk opens with the pulse, both launch lists and Trending on Base.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a withdrawal from Base to Ethereum take?

Five days through the official bridge, the standard wait since the Beryl upgrade in June 2026. It used to be seven. A withdrawal backed by both the TEE and ZK proofs can finalize in about a day, but Base says that path is rarely used because ZK proofs are costly. Third-party bridges are faster and add their own trust assumptions.

Where can you read more about Base?

Related terms

Last reviewed October 25, 2026. Market data in Cashboard comes from the providers named on each widget and may be delayed. Nothing here is financial advice.