Share this article
Coinbase’s Base Network Achieves ‘Stage 1’ Status, Reducing Centralization Risk
The move means that Base will now have a security council which will help approve certain network upgrades if needed.
Updated Apr 29, 2025, 4:48 p.m. Published Apr 29, 2025, 4:00 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
What to know:
- Base, the popular layer-2 network from cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN), is now a “stage 1” rollup, said the company, setting up its path towards full decentralization.
- The transition to a “stage 1” rollup comes as other layer-2s have also reached that milestone, making these networks less reliant on centralized entities.
- The move means that Base will now have a security council, a network of ten “independent entities, which we chose from all around the globe,” said Tom Vieira, the head of product at Base, in an interview with CoinDesk.
Base, the popular layer-2 network from cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN), is now a “stage 1” rollup, said the company, setting up its path towards full decentralization.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The transition to a “stage 1” rollup comes as other layer-2s have also reached that milestone, making these networks less reliant on centralized entities.
The move means that Base will now have a security council, a network of ten “independent entities, which we chose from all around the globe,” said Tom Vieira, the head of product at Base, in an interview with CoinDesk. “These are folks from the Base ecosystem and from the broader Ethereum ecosystem,” who will help approve certain network upgrades if needed, Vieira added.
In addition, fault proofs are permissionless now on Base, meaning anyone can verify or check the state of transactions from the network without relying on a central entity.
Achieving the so-called stage 1 rollup status stems from a blog post from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, where he categorized platforms according to their degree of decentralization, with stage 1 relying on certain guardrails or "limited training wheels”, and sacrificing on certain elements of decentralization for security and speed.
Buterin originally shared this framework in 2022 when rollups started becoming more popular. A few years later, he expressed his concerns around their security, so he wrote on X that he would only publicly talk about a layer-2 network if it had reached (at least) stage 1.
Base was launched by centralized exchange Coinbase in August 2022, and since then has become the largest rollup, according to L2Beat, with $11.72 billion locked in the protocol. Now, the largest layer-2 network will be less reliant on Coinbase itself.
Read more: Coinbase’s Layer 2 System Base Gets a Marketplace Linked to Gas Revenue
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Deus X CEO Tim Grant: We aren't replacing finance; we're integrating it
The Deus X CEO discussed his journey into digital assets, the company's infrastructure-led growth strategy, and why his Consensus Hong Kong panel promises "real talk only."
What to know:
- Tim Grant entered crypto in 2015 after early exposure to Ripple and Coinbase, drawn by blockchain’s ability to improve traditional finance rather than replace it.
- Deus X combines investing and operating to build regulated digital finance infrastructure across payments, prime services, and institutional DeFi.
- Grant will be speaking at Consensus Hong Kong in February.
Top Stories
