Base To Launch B20 Standard For Fungible Tokens On Mainnet

Coinbase-backed Ethereum layer-2 network Base is set to activate its B20 token standard on mainnet, introducing a native framework for stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and other fungible tokens. 

According to Base documentation, B20 is scheduled to go live at 6 pm UTC on the mainnet, enabling developers to begin creating tokens under the new standard.

The activation will enable developers to use Base’s native token standard to create stablecoins, RWAs, tokenized equities and other fungible tokens without requiring them to build and audit custom ERC-20 contracts.

The standard supports two variants: asset and stablecoin. The asset variant has configurable decimals between six and 18, while the stablecoin variant has fixed six-decimal formatting and requires issuers to specify a fiat currency denomination, such as the US dollar or euro.

B20 supports two variants. Source: Base

B20 was introduced as part of the network’s Beryl upgrade, which went live on June 26. The upgrade shortened withdrawal waiting periods from seven days to five days and added technical changes aimed at improving network performance. 

Base said B20 tokens are compatible with standard ERC-20 tokens but come with built-in issuer controls. Those features include supply limits, transfer rules, minting, burning, pausing and transaction notes.

B20 activation follows Base outages

The B20 activation follows back-to-back outages linked to its sequencer infrastructure. 

On June 25, Base encountered an outage caused by a consensus issue. At the time, the network said an invalid block had been sequenced, preventing new blocks from being created. Base resumed block production on the same day, after a nearly two-hour halt.

Related: Coinbase restores trading after AWS outage disrupts markets

In a post-mortem, Base said that a sequencer bug caused back-to-back outages on June 25 and June 26. The first incident lasted for about 116 minutes, while a second outage lasted about 20 minutes after a race condition prevented sequencers from catching up after a system reset. 

The initial outage occurred hours before the scheduled Beryl upgrade, which was delayed by one day due to a separate B20 activation registry timing issue.

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