Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network incubated by Coinbase, will roll out its Cobalt upgrade in September. The upgrade introduces four features aimed at making transactions cheaper and more flexible for developers and users: gas sponsorship, transaction batching, native account abstraction, and session keys.
What the upgrade includes
Gas sponsorship allows a third party — such as a dApp developer or a wallet provider — to cover transaction fees on behalf of users. That means users could interact with applications without needing to hold ETH for gas, a common barrier for newcomers. Transaction batching lets multiple operations be bundled into a single transaction, reducing overall costs and simplifying complex workflows.
Native account abstraction changes how accounts work at the protocol level. Instead of every account being a simple externally owned account (EOA), accounts can have custom logic for verifying transactions. This opens the door to features like multi-signature wallets, social recovery, and automated spending limits without relying on separate smart contracts. Session keys complement this by allowing temporary, limited-authority keys that can be used for repeated actions — for example, signing multiple in-game moves — without prompting the user each time.
Why these features matter
Together, the four upgrades target two persistent pain points in crypto: high transaction costs and poor user experience. Gas sponsorship and batching directly cut fees, while account abstraction and session keys reduce the friction of signing every single action. For developers, the changes mean they can build apps that feel more like traditional web services, where users don't have to think about gas or approve every micro-interaction.
Base launched its mainnet in August 2023 and has grown quickly, partly by leaning into the Coinbase ecosystem. The Cobalt upgrade is the network's first major protocol update since then. It follows a testnet phase where the features were validated.
The upgrade is scheduled for September, though Base has not announced a specific date. Developers can start testing the new capabilities on the testnet now. The question for the broader Ethereum ecosystem is whether other L2s will adopt similar native account abstraction features, or if Base's approach will remain unique.
