Base announced the Azul upgrade, its first standalone network upgrade since departing Optimism's Superchain. The upgrade introduces multiproofs, enhancing security, decentralization, performance, and the overall developer experience. By combining Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) with zero-knowledge (ZK) proving, multiproofs move Base closer to Stage 2 decentralization.

Azul also streamlines the network architecture by consolidating operations onto a single execution client, base-reth-node, alongside a new consensus client, base-consensus, built on OP Kona. The upgrade is already running on testnet, with mainnet activation set for May 13, 2026. Node operators will need to transition to the new client stack ahead of that date.

Base is currently hosting a $250,000 audit competition on Immunefi running through May 4. Looking ahead, the team plans to introduce an enshrined token standard and Flashblock access lists by the end of June, followed by native account abstraction by the end of August.

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