Base, a Layer-2 (L2) blockchain developed by Coinbase, transitioned from a Stage 0 to Stage 1 rollup, successfully overtaking Arbitrum (ARB) as the biggest Ethereum scaling resolution.
Phases seek advice from a framework for assessing the maturity of L2 rollups, primarily based on milestones proposed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Base Turns into Largest Ethereum L2, Arbitrum Follows
Information on L2Beat reveals Arbitrum One is now not the biggest optimistic rollup on Ethereum. L2Beat is an analytics and analysis web site centered on Ethereum layer-2 scaling.
After a $557 million surge in TVL (Whole Worth Locked), Base has overtaken Arbitrum L2, with a margin of greater than $710 million in whole worth secured (TVS).

Ethereum L2 rollups. Supply: L2Beat
Alongside overtaking Arbitrum One, Base has additionally matured from Stage 0, the place the rollup is absolutely managed by its operators (full coaching wheels).
It’s now a Stage 1 rollup, that includes sensible contract governance. Nonetheless, as a result of a safety council stays in place to deal with potential bugs, this stage options “restricted coaching wheels.”
“Proud that Base is now stage 1 — and #1 by TVS however it’s nonetheless day one. Time to deliver the world on-chain,” wrote Base creator Jesse Pollak.
This remark aligns with Base’s imaginative and prescient to increase the on-chain creator ecosystem, fostering virality and creativity.
In the meantime, with Base now amongst Stage 1 rollups, it has successfully escaped Vitalik Buterin’s listing of L2s doomed to fail. In September, Buterin flagged a choose listing of L2 networks doomed to fail except they advance.
“Welcome to the full-EVM stage 1 gang Base,” Buterin remarked.
The Ethereum government stated he would solely acknowledge L2 networks that attain stage 1+ maturity. Buterin referred to his threshold for measuring completely different phases of L2s primarily based on a decentralization scale.
“Stage 1 (75% threshold on the council to override the proof system, 26%+ of the council have to be outdoors the rollup group) is a really affordable average milestone. The multisigs I’m in haven’t had a single liveness failure in years, not to mention 26%. The period of rollups being glorified multisigs is ending. The period of cryptographic belief is upon us,” Buterin defined.
This ultimatum aligned with Buterin’s imaginative and prescient of advancing cryptographic belief. Not too long ago, Buterin proposed a plan to scale Ethereum’s L1 and L2 protocols in 2025.
BeInCrypto reported that he cited incentivizing L2 alignment with Ethereum’s ecosystem, equivalent to payment burning, staking, and funding public items.
Whereas that is the primary time Base has overtaken Arbitrum, it’s not the primary time it has challenged its market place. In hindsight, Base TVL surpassed $2 billion in September after 400% development, which noticed it shut in on Arbitrum’s $2.6 billion TVL.
Aerodrome stays the main protocol on Base L2. It boasts as much as $830 million in TVL, up 5% within the final week. Different main protocols on Base embody Morpho, Aave, and Uniswap.

Base L2 Protocols. Supply: DefiLlama
As Base takes the lead, it’s not possible to neglect Arbitrum’s Achilles’ Heel. The community remains to be digging out of an 80% crash. Key interventions to get better embody token buybacks and the just lately rejected Nvidia accelerator program bid.

Arbitrum (ARB) Worth Efficiency. Supply: BeInCrypto
BeInCrypto information reveals Arbitrum’s ARB worth has elevated by 2% within the final 24 hours. As of this writing, it was buying and selling for $0.33.