Coinbase’s Base Network Plans Major Upgrades to Challenge Solana

Coinbase-backed Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, is set to undergo significant upgrades to make it faster, cheaper, and more decentralized.

Jesse Pollak, the lead developer of Base, posted the network’s upgrade plans on X on May 24.

Base Targets Overhaul That Could Challenge Solana and Sui

The Coinbase executive explained that the improvements would scale Base to meet rising demand from both users and developers

According to Pollak, the team is working to reduce transaction confirmation times to 200 milliseconds and keep network fees consistently under $0.01.

Those two goals are part of a broader plan to process over 200 transactions per second in the short term. Pollak confirmed that Base ultimately aims to reach 1 million TPS.

Pollak also stressed that Base is moving toward a more decentralized architecture. The plan involves shifting key components of the protocol, such as the base state transition logic, directly onto Ethereum’s Layer 1 via smart contracts.

This change would allow multiple independent developers and validators to shape the network’s evolution.

Base is undergoing several infrastructure upgrades to support these enhancements. The goal is to make it the most scalable and user-friendly Ethereum Layer 2 network.

A central part of the upgrade is Flashblocks, a system that enables near-instant “preconfirmation blocks” to give users a faster and smoother experience. The team is already running testnet trials and expects to introduce the update on mainnet by summer 2025.

The Coinbase-backed network also intends to expand its gas throughput. Base is targeting a rise from the current 25 million gas per second (Mgas/s) to 50 Mgas/s in Q2, eventually reaching 250 Mgas/s by the end of the year. This would mark a 100-fold improvement over its original capacity.

Pollak believes these upgrades will significantly enhance Base’s speed and efficiency. Once fully implemented, they could position the network as a strong competitor to chains like Solana and Sui.