Months of talks between Base and Ethereum to build a shared next-generation wallet standard have ended without agreement. The two chains have decided a compromise would undermine each network’s priorities. As a result, wallets that span both networks will likely have to support two separate systems.
The split decision
The design aimed to make crypto wallets work like current apps. People should be able to log in with passkeys, recover accounts through other means, let an app shoulder the cost of the transaction, and group several blockchain actions into one transaction. Holding ETH to pay the network fee would no longer be required.
The disagreement centered on differences in the blockchains’ priorities. Developers spent months trying to merge the two designs. They couldn’t reach an agreement.
“Ethereum wanted to be the best version of Ethereum, and Base wanted to be the best version of Base, and while both sides acknowledged the benefits of ecosystem interoperability, it was ultimately secondary to the need for each chain to achieve their core goals,” Derek Chiang, an Ethlabs developer involved in the work, posted on X. According to Chiang, the cooperation efforts broke down last week.
What each chain wants
Frame Transactions, the EIP-8141, is a draft that alters the rules around transaction approval, payment sources, and what happens afterward. Base developed its own rival proposal, EIP-8130. Both are drafts, and the differences between them concern who is allowed to approve a transaction, who pays for it, and what takes place after approval.
Ethereum aims to keep privacy, protection from censorship, and security in place as wallets grow more programmable. The suggested standard would also make it simpler for accounts to switch away from the cryptography most Ethereum wallets use now, in case quantum computers eventually make it unsafe.
Instead of restricting the way transactions are handled, Base is seeking room to make them work better for high volumes and a wide range of uses, including systems that need to meet specific compliance rules.
Chiang said that forcing a common standard would eventually require one side to give up features it considered essential.
Where each proposal lands
Later this year, Ethereum is moving forward with Frame Transactions as it prepares to upgrade toward Hegotá, the next step after Glamsterdam. The Ethereum Foundation included EIP-8141 among the execution-layer features it says must be part of Hegotá when it ships.
Giving a proposal priority does not provide it with a guarantee. EIP-8141 remains under development and is not currently active on Ethereum.
Base is moving ahead with EIP-8130, and its design is already available for testing on its Vibenet development network. The upgrade, called Cobalt, is planned for September, with testnet and mainnet deployments currently listed for that month.
The cost to wallets
Ethereum and Base made a decision about wallet rules that runs against what was supposed to happen. The plan was that every network based on Ethereum would share one common set of wallet rules even as they split off from each other in other ways. Yet now, those two networks have decided that keeping those rules the same is not worth the trade-offs involved.
Wallet and app developers will need to build support for both standards into cross-network products.
Key facts box
- Ethereum is moving ahead with EIP-8141 (Frame Transactions)
- Base is moving ahead with EIP-8130
- Both proposals are still being developed
- Hegotá upgrade is scheduled after Glamsterdam, later this year
- Cobalt upgrade testnet and mainnet deployments listed for September
- Cooperation efforts broke down last week, per Derek Chiang
Neither chain has chosen to follow the shared wallet rules path. Each is pressing ahead on its own course, with both proposals remaining under development.
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