- Efforts to develop a shared account abstraction standard have been abandoned by Ethereum and Base.
- The development of EIP-8130 and EIP-8141 will proceed independently.
- Ethereum places a high priority on security, privacy, decentralization, and resistance to censorship.
- Base prioritizes compliance, scalability, and customisation. Wallet developers may need to support various transaction types as a result of the split.
Ethereum and Base have ended efforts to develop a shared account abstraction standard after failing to agree on how the technology should balance decentralization, security, scalability and compliance.
The collaboration focused on two proposals: Base-led EIP-8130 and Ethereum’s EIP-8141, also known as Frame Transactions. Both projects remain under development and aim to give wallets more flexibility through features such as passkey authentication, gas sponsorship, transaction batching and custom account validation.
Source: https://x.com/decentrek/status/2099490351337902392
Ethlabs researcher Derek Chiang said on X that discussions between the two sides broke down last week after developers could not agree on a design that satisfied both networks’ priorities.
Ethereum & Base Take Different Paths
Ethereum Layer 1 developers are prioritizing censorship resistance, privacy, security, openness and long-term resilience, according to Chiang. Base and other Layer 2 networks, meanwhile, need account abstraction that can support high transaction volumes while offering greater customization and clearer compliance controls.
“Ethereum wanted to be the best version of Ethereum, and Base wanted to be the best version of Base,” Chiang said.
The disagreement highlights a growing challenge for the Ethereum ecosystem. While the EVM has historically provided a common technical foundation across Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks, individual chains are increasingly developing features around their own users and use cases.
EIP-8141 & EIP-8130 Move Forward
EIP-8141 would make account abstraction a native part of Ethereum through programmable transaction frames. The proposal covers transaction validation, gas payment and execution while also supporting features such as key rotation, batch transactions and post-quantum security.
Base’s EIP-8130 takes a different route by introducing a new transaction type and an onchain keystore. The design supports custom authentication, transaction batching and gas sponsorship. Base has also tested the proposal on its Vibenet devnet.
Both standards aim to move beyond Ethereum’s traditional externally owned accounts and make wallets more programmable without requiring users to manage the underlying complexity.
Wallets Could Carry The Burden
The split could increase the workload for wallet developers and applications supporting multiple EVM networks. If both standards advance, wallets may need to support different native transaction formats across Ethereum and Base.
Chiang said the fragmentation does not necessarily represent a negative outcome. Instead, wallets and applications could eventually hide the technical differences by supporting each network’s native transaction format behind a unified user experience.
The Ethereum-Base split now leaves the ecosystem with two possible paths: stronger coordination around shared infrastructure or greater acceptance of technical differences between chains.
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