Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 platform Base will implement permissionless fault proofs on October 30, aiming to promote network decentralization and eliminate control by a single entity. Base stated in a declaration:
“Fault proofs will go live on the Base mainnet on October 30, marking an important milestone in the process of decentralization.”
Launched in August 2023, Base is developed based on Optimism's OP Stack technology and has since become the Layer 2 Rollup platform with the highest total value locked on Ethereum. "Fault proofs" are a commonly used security mechanism in Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, designed to ensure the correctness of transactions and the decentralization of the system. It allows any participant to challenge the transaction results in the network, preventing potential errors or fraudulent transactions from being recorded on the blockchain.
Before the implementation of this mechanism, the state output root of the Base network could only be submitted by a centralized proposer, requiring users to rely on operators to accurately report the network state, which led to frequent criticisms of Base being overly centralized.
The fault proof mechanism introduced by Base references the deployment method of OP Mainnet. Both blockchains are part of the Optimism Superchain ecosystem, which also includes L2 projects like Zora, Mode, and Fraxtal.
It is worth mentioning that most Optimistic Rollup networks have not yet achieved full decentralization by introducing fault proofs and maintaining decentralized contract upgrades. Currently, the L2s that have fault proofs are Arbitrum and OP Mainnet.