Base has pushed a major protocol upgrade, Beryl, to the Sepolia testnet and plans to flip it on mainnet on June 25. The release brings a native token standard, shorter withdrawal windows to Ethereum, and several node-level improvements designed to make token issuance faster, cheaper, and more integrated with existing infrastructure.
What’s new
- B20: a protocol-level token standard that makes tokens first-class citizens in Base’s node software rather than ordinary smart contracts. B20 implements the full ERC‑20 spec plus ERC‑2612 permit functionality, meaning familiar wallets, exchanges, and indexers can support B20 tokens without modification.
- Faster withdrawals: the default withdrawal route most bridges use will see the delay to Ethereum cut from seven days to five days.
- Reth V2: an updated Rust-based execution client that reduces storage demands for full, minimal, and archive nodes and allows higher block gas targets without overwhelming sequencer or RPC infrastructure.
Why B20 matters
Unlike ERC‑20 tokens that run as smart contracts on the EVM, B20 runs as precompiled contracts written in Rust and executed directly by the protocol. That makes token operations more efficient and native to the chain. Base also ships an Issuer Toolkit with the upgrade that provides role-based permissions and issuance controls tailored for regulated or institutional issuers:
- minting and burning controls
- optional supply caps
- transfer restrictions
- freeze and seizure capabilities
- choice between a general-purpose asset model or a stablecoin model with six-decimal precision and customizable currency codes
Security and compatibility
Base says B20 is built on code audited by its own team and security firm Spearbit. The standard supports ERC‑2612 permits, enabling gasless approval workflows via signatures, and existing ERC‑20-compatible infrastructure should be able to adopt B20 assets without code changes. Base also flagged a planned future enhancement that would let issuers pay transaction fees with their own B20 tokens instead of ETH.
Context on withdrawals and Azul
Beryl builds on work introduced in Azul, Base’s earlier upgrade that brought Multiproofs — a hybrid verification path combining trusted execution environment proofs and zero-knowledge proofs to speed up withdrawals. Multiproofs can finalize some withdrawals in about a day when both proof systems agree, but high ZK proof costs have limited its use. Beryl instead targets the withdrawal route most users rely on: by narrowing the role of the old seven-day fault-proof delay to monitoring and disabling faulty provers, Base can safely shorten the standard delay to five days.
Performance and infrastructure
Reth V2 replaces legacy OP Stack clients (a change started with Azul) and trims node storage requirements while enabling higher block gas targets. Base says moving to a unified technology stack—dropping a shared dependency on Optimism’s OP Stack—has sped its release cadence: Beryl landed on Sepolia roughly four weeks after Azul hit mainnet.
What’s next
Base is already looking ahead: the next upgrade, Cobalt, is targeted for September. Cobalt is expected to introduce native account abstraction with protocol-level smart accounts, gas sponsorship (meta‑transactions), transaction batching, expanded B20 functionality, and a unified node binary that merges consensus and execution clients.
Bottom line
Beryl makes tokens native to Base, shortens withdrawal waits for the most-used route to Ethereum, and brings client and node optimizations that should improve scalability and issuer onboarding—features likely to appeal to stablecoin issuers, exchanges, and regulated institutions while preserving compatibility with existing ERC‑20 tooling.
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