<h2 id="header-0">Coinbase News</h2>
Coinbase-incubated layer-2 network Base <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://x.com/base/status/2105380890310492415">went</a> live with its Cobalt upgrade on mainnet on Oct. 1, its third named protocol release of the year. The update expands compliance controls for the B20 token standard and gives traders a new way to time their transactions.
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<h2 id="header-1">B20 Issuers Gain Combined Rule Sets</h2>
B20 is the token standard Base rolled out in June through its Beryl upgrade, aimed at<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/stablecoin"> stablecoin</a> issuers and companies putting real-world assets on-chain. Those issuers typically rely on separate lists to control who can hold or receive a token, such as a sanctions blocklist alongside a Know Your Customer (KYC) allowlist. Before Cobalt, enforcing more than one list on the same token meant keeping duplicate records in sync across systems.
Cobalt removes that duplication with a feature called Composite Policies, which lets an issuer point a token at two or more existing lists at once and set whether a transfer needs to clear all of them or just one. A fund requiring both KYC and accreditation checks, for instance, can now link both lists directly rather than maintaining a merged one by hand, and a transfer is blocked automatically if a recipient falls off either list.
The upgrade also changes how token balances display after corporate actions. Under a new feature called Schedule Multiplier Updates, built to the ERC-8056 standard, an issuer can schedule a future change to how a token's balance appears onscreen—the kind of adjustment needed for a stock split—without altering the underlying holdings or requiring a new contract. Tokens already issued on the earlier Beryl version of B20 continue operating as before, and newer issuers can opt into the updated display mechanism when they launch.
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A third B20 addition, seizeWithMemo, allows administrators to move tokens out of a frozen wallet into a separate recovery address, logging the sending wallet, destination, amount, and a written memo on-chain each time it is used. The function only works on assets where the issuer has already enabled seizure as an option.
<h2 id="header-2">Conditional Orders Arrive for Traders</h2>
Base's other major Cobalt feature, Validity Transactions, targets traders rather than issuers. The feature lets someone submit an order that will sit unexecuted on the network until a condition they set is met, such as a token crossing a chosen price in<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/usd-coin/"> USD Coin</a> (USDC) by a certain block height. If the condition never triggers within the window, the order simply expires without ever posting to the chain. Base said the mechanism also keeps a submitted order hidden from other network participants until the moment it actually executes, limiting the ability of outside parties to front-run it once submitted.
Base has more changes planned before the end of the year, including a drop in block times from two seconds down to 200 milliseconds and built-in smart account support with sponsored gas and batched transactions. The network also intends to adopt part of Ethereum's forthcoming Glamsterdam upgrade once it ships.
Cobalt follows Base's Azul upgrade in May and Beryl in June, continuing a pattern of roughly quarterly protocol releases through 2026. The network tested Cobalt on its Sepolia test network, which activated the upgrade on Sept. 23, before bringing it to<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/mainnet"> mainnet</a> a week later, and has increasingly framed B20 as core infrastructure for stablecoin issuers and tokenized asset projects choosing to build on the network.

Base's Cobalt Upgrade Adds Compliance Tools for Issuers

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