Base deployed its second network upgrade, Beryl, to the Base Sepolia testnet, with mainnet activation scheduled for June 25, 2026. Beryl introduces the B20 native token standard, shortens the withdrawal delay from Base to Ethereum, and ships Reth V2 to expand scalability. It arrives just four weeks after Azul, the first upgrade that migrated Base to the Base Stack and a single Reth execution client.
B20 is Base's native token standard, a template for creating tokens whose logic runs as a precompiled contract written in Rust and executed directly in the node software rather than as onchain EVM bytecode. It implements the full ERC-20 specification plus ERC-2612 permits, so B20 tokens are drop-in compatible with existing wallets, exchanges, indexers, and onchain protocols. The standard ships with an Issuer Toolkit covering role-based access control, mint and burn with optional supply caps, granular transfer policies, burning of policy-blocked balances for regulated freeze-and-seize requirements, and optional transfer memos. Two variants are available at launch: Asset, a general-purpose version with configurable decimals and a rebasing multiplier, and Stablecoin, a fiat-backed version with fixed 6-decimal precision and an issuer-defined currency code. The toolkit builds on code audited by Base and Spearbit. Planned additions include paying gas fees in the token itself, virtual deposit addresses, aggregated data served directly from Base Node RPCs, and roughly 50% cheaper transfers at double the throughput.
Beryl also cuts the more common single-proof withdrawal path from 7 days to 5 days. The original 7-day window dates to Base's earlier fault-proof system, but Azul's Multiproofs now require a positive TEE or ZK proof to finalize, leaving the remaining delay only to detect and disable a faulty prover. Base is shrinking the window iteratively, starting at 5 days, while the expedited Multiproof path can still finalize in as little as one day. Reduced delays free bridging providers to put capital to work sooner.
The upgrade ships Reth V2, the next round of optimization on Base's sole execution client. Storage V2 reduces node disk usage across full, minimal, and archive nodes, and faster state root computation lets Base raise block gas targets and limits without overloading the sequencer or RPC nodes. Node operators must upgrade to the latest versions before the mainnet activation timestamps, while users withdrawing through the canonical L1 Bridge need take no action. Base's next upgrade, Cobalt, is targeted for September and is expected to add native account abstraction, further B20 enhancements, and a unified node binary.
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