Haciyev Reşit 
A new infrastructure decision from Coinbase triggered sharp price movements in the crypto market, directly impacting the relevant altcoin. Following the company’s announcement of architectural changes to its Base network, the price of Optimism (OP) experienced a notable and rapid decline. Market participants interpreted this development as a critical turning point for partnerships and technical dependencies within the Layer-2 ecosystem. Beyond the price reaction, the announcement also reignited discussions around competition and independence among Layer-2 solutions. Coinbase’s move toward a more autonomous infrastructure for its Base network has fueled speculation about shifting power dynamics within the ecosystem, with investors closely monitoring the situation.
Major Infrastructure Shift in Base
Coinbase announced a significant change to the infrastructure of its Ethereum Layer-2 network, Base. According to the statement, Base will transition away from the OP Stack architecture—originally developed by Optimism—and adopt a fully independent “unified Base stack” under Coinbase’s direct control. As part of this transition, node operators will need to follow new releases published in Base’s own GitHub repository instead of relying on Optimism’s versions. The company stated that further technical details regarding the migration process will be shared in the coming period.
After Coinbase announced its departure from the OP Stack architecture, OP token prices fell sharply. The market interpreted this move as a potential loss of usage and influence for the Optimism ecosystem. Base was initially built on Optimism’s OP Stack and had been considered an important collaboration model within the Layer-2 landscape. However, Coinbase’s decision to shift toward greater independence has increased expectations of structural changes within the ecosystem.
Why the Separation?
Coinbase explained that the current model had evolved into a complex structure with numerous external dependencies. While integrations with ecosystem players like Flashbots and Paradigm introduced new features, they also made the development process more complicated.
With the new unified Base stack, the company aims to:
- Consolidate all development into a single infrastructure
- Build a simpler and more controllable system
- Implement faster and more independent update processes
Although Coinbase acknowledged that OP Stack technology played a crucial role in Base’s growth, it emphasized that future development will follow a more autonomous and agile approach.
More Frequent Updates and Independent Development
Under the new architecture, Coinbase plans to adopt a more flexible update model. Instead of three major hard forks per year, the company intends to implement smaller but more frequent updates—approximately six controlled hard forks annually. This strategy aims to reduce the accumulation of technical risks and ensure a more stable system. Additionally, the protocol codebase will be streamlined to focus solely on Base network needs. This approach is expected to provide developers with a clearer infrastructure and allow new features to be implemented more quickly.
Aligned with Coinbase’s philosophy that “Base wins when Ethereum wins,” certain major updates may be tested on Base before being integrated into the Ethereum mainnet, providing valuable ecosystem data. Despite these technical changes, Coinbase emphasized that no immediate action is required from users. Base will continue operating in compatibility with the OP Stack specification for now, and existing RPC services will remain supported. Therefore, no short-term disruption in user experience is expected.
Evaluation
Coinbase’s decision to transition Base to a fully independent infrastructure is seen as a development that could reshape the Layer-2 ecosystem. The sharp drop in OP’s price following the announcement indicates that the market interpreted the separation as a significant signal. In the coming period, how Base’s new architecture evolves—and how the Optimism ecosystem responds—will likely become one of the key factors determining the direction of competition among Ethereum Layer-2 solutions.
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