Base ships Cobalt upgrade with conditional transactions and B20 asset tools
Tech & Launches ·
Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network Base has rolled out a mainnet upgrade called Cobalt, adding conditional transaction logic and new functionality for B20 assets.
The upgrade was announced as introducing validity transactions alongside B20 token enhancements, a description echoed across multiple reports characterizing the same features as conditional transactions and new B20 asset functions, according to theblock.co. Four distinct sources are tracking the Cobalt rollout, with wording varying between "launches," "rolls out," and "deploys" but converging on the same two core changes: a new transaction type that can be conditioned on specific onchain criteria, and expanded capabilities for B20 assets on the network.
The update lands on a chain built as a smart contract Layer 2 that batches transactions off Ethereum mainnet and settles them back to Ethereum for finality, using standard EVM tooling so existing developer workflows carry over. Conditional or validity transactions of the kind introduced in Cobalt would let contracts enforce specific requirements before a transaction executes, a mechanism that fits Base's broader push toward serving as shared settlement infrastructure for both crypto-native applications and more heavily regulated financial use cases, as detailed in the network's own overview via leviathan.news.
Cobalt arrives amid a string of other infrastructure moves on Base disclosed in the same period, including a Verify Onchain feature for enforcing one-person-one-claim identity checks in airdrops and governance, and a Native Account Abstraction rollout built with Optimism, Coinbase, and WalletConnect that is said to cut transaction costs by more than double. Those parallel efforts point to a chain layering identity, cost, and transaction-logic upgrades in close succession rather than shipping Cobalt in isolation.
What remains unspecified is the precise mechanics of how validity or conditional transactions will be used by developers, and what specific new actions the B20 enhancements unlock for token issuers or holders. Also unclear is the rollout timeline for broader adoption of Cobalt's features across existing Base applications, and whether the upgrade ties into the account abstraction and identity-verification tools introduced around the same window.