Ethereum, Base give up on common wallet standard after months of talks
Ethereum and Coinbase-backed Base have ended efforts to create a single standard for next-generation crypto wallets after months of negotiations, with developers concluding a shared design would force each network to sacrifice key priorities. The split leaves Ethereum advancing EIP-8141 while Base pursues EIP-8130, potentially requiring wallets and apps that operate across both chains to support two different transaction systems.
Why It Matters
The disagreement could fragment wallet and application behavior across Ethereum-compatible networks, increasing development complexity for cross-network services. Each chain is prioritizing features — privacy and security on Ethereum, and flexibility and compliance on Base — that its developers view as essential.
Key Facts
- Proposals: Ethereum: EIP-8141 (Frame Transactions); Base: EIP-8130
- Outcome: Cooperation to create a common wallet standard ended after months of talks; efforts reportedly broke down last week
- Priorities - Ethereum: Emphasizes privacy, censorship resistance, security and preparation for future quantum threats
- Priorities - Base: Favors flexibility for high-volume applications and support for compliance needs
- Upgrade paths: Ethereum is pushing EIP-8141 toward Hegotá (planned after Glamsterdam); EIP-8141 listed among execution-layer features the Ethereum Foundation says must ship with Hegotá
Developers for Ethereum and Coinbase-backed Base have abandoned a joint effort to define a single next-generation wallet standard after concluding that a compromise would force each network to give up important design goals. The collaboration, which lasted several months, ended last week according to Ethlabs developer Derek Chiang, who said both sides ultimately prioritized making their chains the "best version" of themselves over a unified spec.
The shared effort aimed to modernize how wallets work: enabling passkey logins, multiple account recovery methods, letting apps sponsor transaction fees, and bundling several blockchain operations into a single user-approved action. One explicit design goal was to remove the requirement that users hold ETH merely to pay network fees, making wallets behave more like contemporary apps while preserving core account controls.
The disagreement centered on differing network priorities and technical trade-offs. Ethereum’s draft, EIP-8141 or Frame Transactions, is being designed to preserve privacy, resist censorship, maintain security, and ease future migration away from current cryptography in case of quantum threats. Base’s competing draft, EIP-8130, opts for greater freedom to optimize for high-throughput applications and to accommodate compliance-related use cases. Both proposals would change rules about who can approve transactions, who pays for them, and what happens after approval; both remain drafts and are not yet running on Ethereum mainnet.
Each chain is moving forward independently. Ethereum has included EIP-8141 among execution-layer features it wants to ship with Hegotá, the planned upgrade following Glamsterdam. Base has made EIP-8130 available for testing on its Vibenet development network and plans to deploy it as part of its Cobalt upgrade, with testnet and mainnet deployments currently listed for September. The split means wallets and dapps that support both networks may need to implement and maintain two different transaction construction and approval flows to remain compatible.
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