Base Achieves Stage 1 Decentralization With Fault Proofs, Security Council

Base, a layer 2 blockchain, has achieved "Stage 1 Decentralization" by integrating fault proofs and establishing a decentralized Security Council. This milestone was announced in a blog post on April 29, marking a significant step in the network's evolution.

Fault proofs enable any participant to propose or challenge claims about Base’s state, supported by open-source challenger software and financial incentives. This mechanism ensures permissionless dispute resolution, enhancing the network's security and transparency.

The newly formed Security Council, comprising Base, Optimism, and 10 independent entities from various jurisdictions, must approve contract upgrades. This requires a 75% consensus threshold, ensuring that no single entity can unilaterally execute upgrades and adding a layer of security to network governance.

Stage 1 Decentralization, as outlined by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, represents an intermediate phase where permissionless fault proofs are live and critical network upgrades require approval from a decentralized set of stakeholders. This stage moves Base beyond a centralized operator model, reducing reliance on single entities to verify the network’s state or govern smart contract upgrades.

Base is now the 10th blockchain to achieve at least Stage 1 in decentralization out of the 62 rollups tracked by L2Beat. This stage enhances infrastructure certainty for developers, creates a more resilient network without a single point of failure, and opens network security participation to a broader group of actors.

Base’s first fault proofs were deployed on its mainnet in October 2024, in collaboration with Optimism. The OP Stack Fault Proof System allows users to withdraw funds from Base permissionlessly to the Ethereum mainnet without relying on centralized operators. The open challenge mechanism ensures that the decentralized validation process can correct faulty or fraudulent claims about the network state.

The formation of the Security Council marks the second milestone in Base’s decentralization journey. This council includes independent organizations tasked with governing smart contract changes, ensuring that no single entity can unilaterally execute upgrades and distributing operational authority across diverse participants.

Looking ahead, Base aims to deploy multiple proof systems to strengthen security and further decentralize validation processes. Options under exploration include zero-knowledge-based fault-proof systems, which complement existing optimistic proofs and broaden the network’s verification mechanisms.

Advancing toward Stage 2 of decentralization remains a stated goal for Base. At Stage 2, no group of actors would be able to post a state root other than the outcome produced by the system’s code, except in cases involving pre-defined bug protocols. Base aims to continue reducing central points of control, including empowering the Security Council with the tools necessary to independently detect and adjudicate system faults.