Base activated the Cobalt upgrade on Wednesday, introducing conditional transactions (Validity Transactions) and new control tools for tokenized asset issuers on its Ethereum L2 network. This is the third major network upgrade, expanding the B20 token standard.

Multiple Compliance Checks for a Single Asset

Cobalt allows issuers to apply several compliance procedures to a single asset at once: requiring identity verification, accredited investor status, and absence from sanctions lists.

Corporate Actions Without Minting or Burning

Issuers can schedule adjustments for corporate events, such as stock splits. The update changes the number of shares displayed in wallets and applications without minting or burning tokens and without altering the underlying balance.

Administrative Transfers and Public Annotations

Issuers have the option to delegate authorized administrators the right to move tokens from a holder's wallet without their consent and attach a public note to the transfer. The issuer determines whether to enable this feature and who is authorized; Base itself cannot initiate such transfers.

Validity Transactions: Execution Based on On-Chain Conditions

Users can send transactions that become eligible for inclusion in a block only if specified conditions are met. For example, a swap is triggered only if the price reaches a set level before a defined block deadline. The network holds these transactions and checks the conditions with each block; they can remain private until included.

Shift Toward Tokenized Finance

The upgrade continues Base's focus on tokenized finance. On July 8, B20 became the native standard for stablecoins, tokenized RWAs, and other fungible tokens, enabling asset issuance without custom contracts. On July 16, Base creator Jesse Pollak announced a shift toward trading and payments applications. On August 25, Coinbase launched tokenized US stocks on Base, issuing B20 tokens for Apple, Nvidia, Meta, and Alphabet.

Network Development Plans

In the coming months, Base plans to reduce block time from 2 seconds to 200 milliseconds, add protocol-level sponsored fees and batch transactions, and implement some technical changes planned for the Ethereum upgrade called Glamsterdam.