In a blog post titled “The Path to the Mainnet,” Coinbase’s Base outlined the mainnet launch roadmap. The sketch doesn’t have a specific date but lists five criteria needed before the network can launch. Two criteria have been met, while three remain.
Coinbase announced the creation of the Base test network on February 23. It is intended to eventually become layer-2 of Ethereum using Optimistic Rollup technology to reduce transaction fees and increase scalability. Base’s current testnet is only connected to Ethereum’s Goerli testnet instance, not the mainnet instance.
The Base Network is based on the OP Stack, a set of codes also used for the Optimistic network.
In the announcement, the Base team said they are moving towards the mainnet launch. But before that can happen, five criteria must be met. First, the testnet must successfully execute the Regolith hard fork, which makes security-driven changes to the way deposits are implemented. Second, it has to go through an infrastructure review with the OP Labs team. These first two criteria have been met, the announcement said.
The third criterion is to successfully upgrade the network to Bedrock. According to an explanation from the Optimism team, Bedrock will be implementing lower fees, shorter deposit times, and several other changes. Optimism’s upgrade to Bedrock is scheduled for June 6. The Base team has not announced a specific date for their upgrade.
The fourth and fifth criteria are “successfully completed internal and external tests without any serious problems” and “proven testnet stability”. The team has not set a specific date for completing either of these final criteria.
While the roadmap doesn’t have a specific date, a representative from Base did say that “Base will announce the milestones it will hit as it gets closer to the mainnet launch” and the main timeline. Bodies will be shared “soon”.