Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, said recent transaction delays and dropped transactions were caused by a configuration change that has since been reversed.
Over the weekend, users reported slow confirmations and missing transactions. While the slowdown led to elevated transaction drops and delays in onchain inclusion, the network continued producing blocks and remained live, indicating there was no full outage.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Base said a change to transaction propagation caused the block builder to repeatedly pull transactions that could not be executed as base fees rose rapidly. “We mitigated the issue by rolling back the change and have validated that network stability has been restored,” the team said.
Base plans upgrades to prevent future delays
Base added that it is now working on longer-term improvements to avoid similar issues going forward. Planned upgrades include optimizing the transaction pipeline, cutting unnecessary overhead, fine-tuning mempool queue handling, and strengthening monitoring during infrastructure rollouts. The work is expected to take around a month.
Base has since solidified its position as the leading Ethereum layer-2 network by total value locked. As of Wednesday, it held roughly $4.2 billion in TVL—representing 47.6% of Ethereum’s L2 market share—according to DefiLlama.
Arbitrum now commands about 27% of the layer-2 market, placing it a distant second behind Base, while all other L2 networks hold only single-digit market shares.
Base takes center stage in Coinbase’s super-app strategy
As previously reported, Coinbase is leaning heavily into stablecoins and its Base network as it moves beyond core crypto trading and works toward building an “everything exchange” that blends crypto with stocks, prediction markets, and other financial services.
This strategy positions Base as a critical distribution layer for Coinbase’s onchain operations, increasingly acting as the backbone for the company’s expansion into always-on trading, payments, and real-world financial applications.
