Ethereum and Base Abandon Plans for a Shared Wallet Standard After Months of Talks

Ethereum is moving forward with EIP-8141, while Coinbase-backed Base is pursuing its own EIP-8130 proposal. The split means wallets and applications designed to operate across both networks may eventually need to handle two different transaction frameworks.

After months of discussions, developers from Ethereum and Base have ended efforts to establish a single wallet standard for the next generation of crypto applications. The two sides concluded that adopting a shared design would require compromises that conflicted too heavily with each network’s priorities.

The original objective was to make blockchain wallets function more like conventional modern applications. The proposed features included passkey-based logins, alternative account-recovery methods, applications covering users’ transaction fees and the ability to combine multiple blockchain operations into one transaction.

Under such a system, users would not necessarily need to maintain ETH solely to cover network fees.

Why Ethereum and Base Chose Different Approaches

The disagreement largely reflected different priorities for the two networks. Developers spent months attempting to combine the proposals, but the failure to reach a compromise could leave teams building cross-network wallets with two separate methods for creating and authorizing transactions.

Derek Chiang, an Ethlabs developer who participated in the discussions, said the two ecosystems recognized the value of interoperability but ultimately placed their individual network objectives ahead of adopting a common design.

According to Chiang, the collaboration broke down last week.

Ethereum is developing EIP-8141, known as Frame Transactions, while Base has proposed EIP-8130 as an alternative. Both proposals would change how blockchain transactions determine who is authorized to approve them, who covers the associated fees and what actions can follow approval.

Ethereum’s approach is designed around preserving privacy, censorship resistance and security as wallets become increasingly programmable. It also seeks to make it easier for accounts to transition away from Ethereum’s existing cryptographic systems if advances in quantum computing eventually make those systems vulnerable.

Base is pursuing greater flexibility to tailor transaction processing for high-volume activity and a wider range of applications, including use cases that may involve compliance requirements.

Chiang said efforts to combine the two approaches eventually created a situation in which one side would have needed to sacrifice features it regarded as important.

Ethereum Advances EIP-8141

Ethereum is now targeting Frame Transactions for Hegotá, the planned network upgrade following Glamsterdam. The Ethereum Foundation included EIP-8141 this month among the execution-layer features it wants to deliver as part of Hegotá.

However, that designation gives the proposal development priority rather than guaranteeing that it will be implemented. EIP-8141 remains under development and is not currently active on Ethereum’s main network.

Base is continuing work on EIP-8130. Its design is already being tested on Base’s Vibenet development network, with the proposal targeted for the Cobalt upgrade. The testnet and mainnet deployments are currently scheduled for September.

The two networks were initially expected to share a common wallet framework while continuing to differ in other areas. The decision to pursue separate proposals means developers building applications across Ethereum and Base may instead have to accommodate different transaction rules and approval mechanisms.

For wallet developers, the split could add complexity to cross-network applications, while giving each blockchain greater freedom to implement the features it considers most important.

About The Author

ctleditor

See author's posts