Base, the Coinbase-incubated Ethereum Layer 2 network, has pushed its Beryl mainnet upgrade to June 26 at 18:00 UTC, one day later than originally scheduled. The delay ensures the hard fork's underlying B20 Activation Registry is fully operational before it activates. The timing dependency stems from Beryl's architecture, where developers cannot deploy tokens on Base's new native B20 standard until the Activation Registry—which controls whether B20's feature flags are live—comes fully online, a process that can take up to one hour after the hard fork itself activates. Beryl is Base's second independent network upgrade, following Azul, which activated on mainnet in May.
B20 Activation Registry Creates One-Hour Deployment Window
The delay centers on a timing dependency baked into Beryl's architecture, according to the team behind the Coinbase-incubated scaling network. Developers cannot deploy tokens on Base's new native B20 standard until the Activation Registry comes fully online, a process that can take up to one hour after the hard fork itself activates. The registry controls whether B20's feature flags are live. Beryl was originally scheduled to go live on June 25.
Base Mainnet Suffers Two-Hour Outage on June 25
Base's mainnet suffered a roughly two-hour block production outage on June 25 after a consensus failure caused an invalid block to enter the sequencing pipeline. The team said the incident was unrelated to the planned Beryl upgrade.
Beryl Reduces Withdrawal Delays and Integrates Reth V2
Beyond the B20 token standard, the hard fork reduces the standard single-proof withdrawal delay from Base to Ethereum from 7 days to 5. The upgrade integrates Reth V2, which Base says reduces node storage overhead by up to 50%.
B20 Token Standard Runs as Rust Precompiles with Compliance Toolkit
B20 is a protocol-level token standard for stablecoin and real-world asset issuers. Unlike traditional ERC-20 tokens, B20 tokens run as Rust precompiles inside Base's node software rather than as deployed smart contracts. The standard ships with a built-in compliance toolkit—including role-based access, transfer policies, and freeze-and-seize controls.
Cobalt Upgrade Targeted for September
Base's next upgrade, Cobalt, is targeted for September. The upgrade is expected to add native account abstraction and additional B20 features.
FAQ
Why did Base delay the Beryl hard fork to June 26?
Base delayed the Beryl mainnet upgrade to June 26 at 18:00 UTC to ensure the B20 Activation Registry is fully operational before the hard fork activates. The registry can take up to one hour to come online after the hard fork, and developers cannot deploy B20 tokens until the registry is live.
What is the B20 token standard introduced in the Beryl upgrade?
B20 is a protocol-level token standard for stablecoin and real-world asset issuers. Unlike traditional ERC-20 tokens, B20 tokens run as Rust precompiles inside Base's node software rather than as deployed smart contracts, and ship with a built-in compliance toolkit including role-based access, transfer policies, and freeze-and-seize controls.
When is Base's next upgrade scheduled?
Base's next upgrade, Cobalt, is targeted for September and is expected to add native account abstraction and additional B20 features.
