Base has launched its Azul upgrade on testnet, introducing multiproofs and a new client stack in what the network called its first independent upgrade ahead of a planned May 13 mainnet activation.

Azul revolves around a multiproof system that combines trusted execution environment, or TEE, proofs with zero-knowledge proofs. In a Tuesday announcement, Base’s team said either proof type can finalize a proposal on its own, while agreement between both can reduce withdrawal finality to as little as one day. It also said permissionless ZK proofs can override permissioned TEE proofs if the two conflict.

Additionally, Base is simplifying the software underneath the chain.

Azul makes base-reth-node the network’s sole execution client and introduces base-consensus, a new consensus client based on Kona, as part of a broader effort to raise performance and streamline operations.

According to the protocol, the work has already improved reliability. Over the past two months, Base said empty blocks have fallen by about 99%, from roughly 200 a day to around two, while the network has sustained multiple bursts of 5,000 transactions per second.

The move marks a key step for Base, the Coinbase-incubated Ethereum Layer 2 built on the OP Stack, as it tries to harden its infrastructure while moving closer to Stage 2 decentralization.

Azul also aligns Base with Ethereum’s latest Osaka execution-layer specifications, a change aimed at smoothing the developer experience rather than forcing major app rewrites.

The team added that most applications will not need to change anything, though some node operators and developers using specialized features may need to prepare ahead of activation.

To pressure-test the upgrade before mainnet, Base is also running an audit competition on Immunefi through May 4 with a maximum $250,000 reward pool for critical bugs.

The timing matters because Base now sits near the top of the Layer 2 stack by several key measures.

Data from The Block and DefiLlama shows the network with about $4.98 billion in stablecoin market cap and roughly $4.4 billion in DeFi total value locked, making it one of the largest Ethereum scaling networks and a major hub for USDC liquidity. It's also the leading Optimistic Rollup for active addresses.

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The network expects another performance-focused upgrade by the end of June and a user-experience-focused release around the end of August, with native account abstraction on the roadmap.