Base
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 68 → 81. Problems weighed by who is responsible: concerns that are not fraud −22.8, problems around the subject, caused by others −2.6; legitimacy credit well known and widely used +25, long-running +6; fact-check adjustments (−10) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -22.8 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -2.6 |
| Well known and widely used | +25 |
| Long-running | +6 |
| Sum | 71 |
Score: 81/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Base is an Ethereum Layer-2 optimistic rollup incubated and operated by Coinbase, built on the OP Stack and launched on mainnet on August 9, 2023. As of mid-2026 it is the largest Layer-2 by DeFi TVL, holding approximately $4.6 billion locked and processing millions of daily transactions. It carries legitimate structural risks — most notably a single Coinbase-operated sequencer and Coinbase's regulatory exposure as operator — that are partially offset by the April 2025 move to Stage 1 decentralization and the May 2026 Azul upgrade introducing a multiproof system.
Connected Entities
8 entities · 60 linked investigations- Ethereum→mentioned with→Coinbase(60%)
- Optimism→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Optimism→mentioned with→Coinbase(60%)
- DGLD→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
- ETHTrustFund→mentioned with→Base(70%)
- DGLD→mentioned with→Base(70%)
- ETHTrustFund→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- ETHTrustFund→mentioned with→Railgun(70%)
- ETHTrustFund→mentioned with→Coinbase(65%)
- Cointelegraph→mentioned with→Ethereum(60%)
- + 10 more
Timeline(12 events)
5 September 2023
Base experienced first outage: approximately 45 minutes of halted block production due to infrastructure refresh requirement; no funds at risk
IBTimes19 March 2024
CoinTelegraph Magazine investigation period: analysis of 1,000 Base tokens found 1 in 6 were deliberate scams, 91% had security vulnerabilities
CoinTelegraph Magazine20 July 2024
ETHTrustFund DAO, a Base-native DeFi protocol, transferred approximately $2 million from its treasury to Tornado Cash and Railgun mixers in an alleged exit scam, then deleted all online presence
CoinTelegraphOctober 2024
Base deployed the OP Stack Fault Proof System on mainnet, enabling permissionless state proposals and challenges with a 3.5-day challenge window
Crypto Economy29 April 2025
Base achieved Stage 1 decentralization under L2Beat framework by establishing a 10-member independent Security Council and live fault-proof system
CoinDesk5 August 2025
Base experienced second major outage: 33 minutes of halted block production (06:07–06:40 UTC) caused by sequencer handoff failure where a standby sequencer was not fully provisioned; engineers intervened manually to resolve
CoinDesk15 September 2025
Base founder Jesse Pollak announced at Base Camp that the team is 'beginning to explore a network token'; Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed consideration; no definitive plans announced
CoinDesk18 February 2026
Base announced departure from the OP Stack Superchain toward a self-managed 'unified stack' (base/base repository), replacing Optimism-affiliated Security Council seats with independent signers; OP token fell approximately 7%
CoinDesk29 May 2026
Base activated Azul mainnet upgrade introducing multiproof system (TEE + ZK proofs), cutting bridge withdrawal finality from 7 days to approximately 1 day, and representing first independent protocol upgrade under new unified-stack model
CryptoTimesDecision Log
- slot 455371273 · hash 6ihPBrhut98gqAct1Nrp5Q5TFQhnJgqk2MhxJPkGTtX6
- slot 423946102 · hash 4ZRHPwhqu9m2aMecaaecE2mHaq2ct1Qu7wNFywJo7SWY
- slot 423946099 · hash 4UgPzgb7AByUwwYieXPvKLWeEFWmH7fAFKC787L7oh4p
- slot 423204526 · hash 9sQYHepPFoDtu4cPZTeqYdnKBmf8fWojb5Wu9S41mmbC
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 35 of 36 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-investigator
generated: 5/30/2026, 5:45:32 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:51:06 PM
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