Tech Stack

The tech stack of Base has three distinct characteristics that drive the competitive nature of Base to take note of. Base is 1) built by and with tight connections to Coinbase, 2) leverages the OP Stack from Optimism, and 3) acts as an Ethereum Layer-2. These characteristics, though not vital for users to know when interacting in the decentralised ecosystem of Base, are what put Base in a unique position to build an enhanced financial ecosystem on-chain.

As a short introduction to the connection and collaboration with Coinbase, as it is covered in the next section, it is a powerhouse that backs Base. Coinbase, as one of the most trusted centralised exchanges in crypto based in the US, lends this trust and credibility -and resources- to the development of Base. This results in Base being constantly developed on the technological side, as well as seeing millions of users onboarded onto the chain.

Leveraging the OP Stack from Optimism, Base benefits from a modular, open-source framework for blockchain technology. Originated from a multi-chain future, Optimism maintains a framework that is continuously being developed to scale its technological capabilities and enable chains within the Optimism Superchain (chains that leverage the OP Stack, i.e. Base) to benefit from this open-source development. The Superchain includes standards so that every chain within it is interoperable with one another to further scale the ecosystem. The benefits for Base, by being in the Optimism Superchain, are mainly open-source development of blockchain technology and the interoperability with other constituents in the Superchain .

As Base is in the Optimism Superchain, that makes it an Ethereum Layer 2. This provides Base with a slew of benefits. One being compatible with other Ethereum L2s. This enables any user to have an easier experience of moving funds from one chain to another in a decentralised manner, i.e. censorship-resistant and with self-custody. Similarly, as the Ethereum network is the base-layer for all activity, this censorship-resistance extends to potentially being locked from interacting on-chain by Coinbase (there is always an escapehatch). Additionally, Base can leverage all the development that is being done on the Ethereum network such as the tooling and standards being developed by Ethereum developers. The main development in recent history was blobs, which allow L2s to further reduce costs incurred on the network. A metaphor would be a road, where blobs are buses which carry dozens of people who share the costs of that ride, instead of everyone having to take the car and pay for everything themselves.

These three are the main drivers of the technological development that Base has seen and will see into the future to enable its financial ecosystem and onboard the masses.