Base launches Azul upgrade, cuts withdrawals to one day

The Azul upgrade for Base, Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 scaling network, is now live on its mainnet. This marks the network's first independent upgrade since it began operating its own technical stack, introducing a new multiproof security system designed to enhance decentralization and significantly reduce the time required to withdraw assets to the Ethereum mainchain.

The core technical change is the implementation of a multiproof system that combines trusted execution environment (TEE) proofs with zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. Either type of proof can independently finalize a transaction proposal. However, when both systems agree, the withdrawal finality period can be reduced to as little as one day, a substantial decrease from the previous seven-day window typical for optimistic rollups. The design also allows permissionless ZK proofs to override permissioned TEE proofs in the event of a conflict, a feature the development team stated is a key step toward achieving greater censorship resistance and moving closer to what is described as "Stage 2" decentralization.

Alongside the new proof mechanism, the Azul upgrade consolidates Base's infrastructure onto new, native client...