Ethereum and Coinbase-backed Base abandoned an effort to build a common standard for the next generation of crypto wallets, with developers on both sides deciding the compromise cost each network too much.
The goal was to make crypto wallets behave more like modern apps. Users could log in with passkeys, recover accounts in different ways, allow an app to pay transaction fees and bundle several blockchain actions into a single transaction. Holding $ETH simply to pay a network fee would become optional.
The disagreement centered on differences in the blockchains’ priorities, and developers spent months trying to merge the two designs. The inability to reach an agreement means developers designing wallets that work across both networks may need to support two different ways of constructing and approving the same transaction.
“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.
Ethereum is working on EIP-8141, known as Frame Transactions. Base developed a competing proposal called EIP-8130. Both are drafts that change the rules around who can approve a transaction, who pays for it and what happens after it is approved.
Ethereum wants its version to preserve privacy, censorship resistance and security as wallets become more programmable. The proposed standard is also designed to make it easier for accounts to move away from the cryptography most Ethereum wallets use today if quantum computers eventually make it unsafe.
Base, on the other hand, wants more freedom to optimize transactions for high volumes and different kinds of applications, including systems with compliance requirements.
Chiang said attempts to force a common standard eventually meant one side would have to give up features it considered important.
Ethereum is now pushing Frame Transactions toward Hegotá, its planned upgrade after Glamsterdam, which is scheduled for later this year. The Ethereum Foundation this month put EIP-8141 among the execution-layer features it says must ship with Hegotá.
That gives the proposal priority rather than a guarantee. EIP-8141 is still being developed and is not running on Ethereum today.
Read More: Ethereum commits to letting users pay gas fees without having to hold $ETH
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