Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, is changing the technology that powers it, stepping back from relying on Optimism’s OP Stack, the toolkit it originally launched on.
In a blog post titled “The Next Chapter for Base,” the team said it plans to take more control over its own code and infrastructure. Instead of relying on multiple external teams for important upgrades and changes, Base will consolidate everything into one Base-managed code base.
Simply put, Base was built using Optimism’s technology, but now it will control more of its own ship. Optimism is a layer-2 blockchain on top of Ethereum that aims to reduce settlement times and transaction costs.
Launched in 2023, Base quickly became one of the most widely used Ethereum layer-2 networks, with $3.85 billion locked in the protocol today. When the network went live, the Optimism and Base teams shared that Base had the potential to earn up to approximately 118 million OP tokens over six years. It is still uncertain what this means for that agreement.
The OP token has fallen 4% over the past 24 hours following the announcement.
The team said the change doesn’t mean Base is completely severing ties with Optimism. The company said it will still work with Optimism for support and will remain compliant with OP Stack standards during the transition. For regular users and developers, nothing should change immediately.
The team said the switch is happening because Base, if it controls its own stack, can send upgrades faster and simplify how the network works behind the scenes, with the goal of doubling the pace of major upgrades to about six a year.
So far, the transition is mostly technical.
“This unification does not mean that Base will be built in isolation. The protocol remains public and specified in the open, and alternative implementations are welcome and encouraged,” the team wrote in their blog post.
“We are grateful for our three-year partnership with Base and proud to have helped it become one of the most successful Layer 2 deployments in history,” an OP Labs spokesperson told CoinDesk. “Our focus remains on delivering enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure to our ecosystem, and we will continue to serve Base as an OP Enterprise customer as they build out their independent infrastructure.”
UPDATE (February 18, 2026, 18:06 UTC): Adds OP Labs statement + background info on 118M OP token deal.
Read more: Coinbase Officially Launches Base Blockchain in Milestone for a Public Company
