Base Completes Cobalt Upgrade, Adds Compliance Tools for Tokenized Assets

Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network, has completed Cobalt, its third major upgrade, strengthening its infrastructure for tokenized finance.

Cointelegraph reported on October 30 that Base activated the Cobalt upgrade and added a feature to its B20 token standard that allows multiple compliance requirements to be applied to a single asset at the same time. That enables issuers to impose several conditions on the same asset, including identity verification, accredited-investor eligibility and sanctions screening.

The upgrade also includes tools for handling corporate actions such as stock splits. Issuers can adjust the quantities shown in wallets and apps without minting or burning new tokens. Base also added a feature allowing an issuer-designated administrator to transfer tokens without the holder's approval and attach a public memo. The company said issuers decide whether to enable the feature and who can use it, while Base itself cannot initiate transfers.

Cobalt also introduces conditional trading through what Base calls Validity Transactions. Users can submit transactions in advance so they are processed only when specific on-chain conditions are met. For example, a swap can be set to execute only when a given asset reaches a target price. Those transactions can remain private until they are included in a block.

The upgrade is part of Base's broader tokenized-finance strategy. In July, Base introduced B20 as a core token standard for stablecoins and real-world asset tokens. In August, Coinbase issued Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet shares as B20 tokens. Base founder Jesse Pollak had said earlier that the network's focus on creators, content and messaging apps had been the wrong choice, and that it would shift its core direction toward financial applications such as trading and payments.

Base said it plans in the coming months to cut block times to 200 milliseconds from the current two seconds and add protocol-level support for gas sponsorship and bundled transactions.