Base pushes Beryl upgrade to June 26 following B20 registry delays

The Beryl upgrade introduces the B20 token standard, a protocol-level framework designed to let issuers create stablecoins and real-world assets directly within node software. This shift bypasses the need for conventional ERC-20 smart contracts while maintaining compatibility with existing wallets and exchanges. Additionally, the hard fork reduces the withdrawal period from Base to Ethereum from seven days to five, a change enabled by the Multiproofs framework introduced in the previous Azul release. The update also integrates Reth V2, which aims to cut node storage requirements by up to 50% while supporting increased block gas targets.

This scheduling shift arrives on the heels of a two-hour block production outage that struck the network earlier on June 25. Engineering teams identified the cause as a consensus issue stemming from an invalid block in the sequencing pipeline, rather than the Beryl deployment. Jesse Pollak, creator of Base, confirmed that user funds remained secure throughout the disruption, though he characterized the service interruption as unacceptable for infrastructure targeting global financial use. Following Beryl, the network expects to launch its Cobalt upgrade in September to introduce native account abstraction and improved transaction batching.