The movement to ‘base’ applications and services on the Ethereum Layer 1 continues to grow and gain support. If you’re one of the people asking, “why is that?” then this post is for you. The SSV Network DAO and contributors are deeply involved with the complexities of Ethereum validators and the staking ecosystem at large. The SSV ecosystem is at the forefront of this technical revolution. And yes, it’s definitely a revolution.

TL;DR
The based movement is revolutionizing Ethereum by solving the ecosystem’s fragmentation problem through innovations like based-sequencing and pre-confirmations. The based ecosystem is growing, which is why there is a need for a based solution to bootstrapping.

This blog post will cover:

• The Fragmentation Problem discusses fragmentation faced in L2s and block building.
• The Based Movement is introduced, highlighting how technologies like based-sequencing and preconfs reduce complexity and utilize the Ethereum validator set.
• A Growing Based Ecosystem showcases the new tools and services, like Taiko and Commit-Boost, that help underpin the based ecosystem.
• The Vision for a Based Infrastructure Layer explores how it could simplify bootstrapping for Ethereum applications beyond just L2s.

The Fragmentation Problem

Rollups

During 2024 the Ethereum ecosystem saw the rise of the based movement. Proponents of this movement like Justin Drake, have proposed it as a possible solution to the “fragmentation” seen in the ecosystem. What it means to be “based” will be covered in the next section. For this section, the post will discuss the “fragmentation” problem as outlined by some of the top minds in Ethereum. 

Fragmentation started rearing its head when the Rollup-centric roadmap became a reality. Various rollup projects were working to provide cheaper transactions and increased throughput with tailored solutions. These scaling protocols alleviate Ethereum’s congestion by processing transactions off-chain while settling a bundled transaction on Ethereum’s Layer 1 (L1), most commonly Optimistic and ZK-rollups.  

As rollup projects started going live, it became apparent that they were creating siloes. Inadvertently, rollups had different developer ecosystems, liquidity, and ways of sequencing transactions. This starkly opposes the interoperability, composibility, and shared liquidity on the L1 (Uniswap, Aave, etc.). As discussed by Martin Köppelmann, the co-founder of Gnosis Chain, these are some of the primary reasons for the exodus of developers to other chains. 

For example, Optimism uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), while Arbitrum has its own Arbitrum Virtual Machine (AVM). This means developers must specialize in one or the other or run massive developer overhead to work on various L2s to capture more liquidity. In an ideal world, developers would create one solution compostable with all L2s.

From a liquidity perspective, the total value secured by Rollups currently stands at around $44B.  

However, this liquidity is fragmented across 57 different rollups, causing a breakdown in composability that users generally enjoy on the Ethereum L1. To make use of various rollups users need to expose themselves to more risks (smart contract risk, bridges, etc.).

Block Building

The block-building ecosystem also faces fragmentation challenges from multiple sidecars (like MEV). These can potentially compromise network security, increase complexity – burdening core developers, and limited participation due to non-public good sidecars that lock in validators. Home stakers won’t necessarily run multiple sidecars, meaning it’s being built for large-scale staking protocols / professional NOs; and not for all stakers.

As part of block building, the last facet we’ll discuss here is sequencing. Layer 2 sequencers manage transaction ordering within an L2 protocol, bundling them into compressed batches and periodically submitting them to Ethereum L1. Although it’s not in the scope of this post to dive into the different types of sequencers, it’s important to note that different rollups have different ways of sequencing transactions. Each has certain benefits and risks, particularly concerning centralization and censorship resistance. Fortunately, solutions like based-sequencing (which will be discussed in the next section) solve many of the challenges.

The Based Movement:

Being based is no new concept in blockchain. During the early days of Ethereum PoS, the network was based until confronted with high network fees. As alluded to above, the rollup-centric roadmap presented a solution to this challenge. However, these introduced more subtle anti-network effects, which started breaking down composability. 

According to Drew van der Werff from Commit Boost, “Currently, it is becoming more agreed upon that beacon proposers will face a broader set of options for what they may “commit” to–be it inclusion lists, pre-confs, or other types of commitments–compared to the external or local payload they see today.”

Based Technologies: What is based-sequencing and pre-confirmations? 

Based-sequencing

So, what does it mean to be based? In the context of Ethereum, it means that an application or service (most commonly L2s at the moment) utilizes the Ethereum validator set for sequencing(AKA Based-sequencing.) 

For L2s, this means that a new class of rollup called ‘Based-rollups’ utilizes Ethereum’s decentralization by rolling up multiple transactions off-chain (as any L2 does) and sending them as a single transaction to Ethereum. Because transactions are sequenced with the L1, it preserves network effects while removing fees as the main historical blocker. A core advantage of being based is there is no degradation of the network effect of the Ethereum L1.

Imagine decentralized sequencing, but instead of a separate blockchain, it uses Ethereum to handle both the secure recording of transaction data and the enforcement of consensus rules. A challenge here is that Based Rollups inherit the limitations of the L1, most importantly, the 12-second slot time.

Pre-confirmations
A solution for transaction confirmation delays and block times is Based preconfirmations (preconfs). Preconfs allow Ethereum validators to commit to adding transactions to the blockchain for L2s and, potentially, other out-of-protocol commitments in the future. From a high level, a validator will post collateral as a promise to include transactions in the upcoming blocks. They are rewarded if they do their duty; if they don’t, the collateral is penalized. According to the research – linked above – “When a point-to-point connection is used between a user and preconfer, preconf latencies can happen on the order of 100ms”, solving the blocktime problem and providing better UX. Protocols like Bolt estimate “Actions such as transfers, approvals, and mints can now be preconfirmed in approximately 250ms.” 

Ethereum validators currently face a fragmented landscape where they must run multiple sidecars to participate in proposer commitments, creating operational complexity and risks. Over 90% of validators outsource block building to sophisticated block builders, giving up their proposing rights. As commitment options expand to include inclusion lists, pre-confirmations, and other protocols, validators must choose which sidecars to support, often leading to vendor lock-in and limited flexibility. This poses significant challenges for home stakers, who can typically run only one sidecar. Also, larger operators face increased attack vectors.

To address these issues, the community is advancing open-source solutions like Commit-Boost to standardize and secure proposer commitments as a public good for Ethereum.

Let Validators Do More!
Base sequencing and pre-confirmations can operate as tokenless, credibly neutral, decentralized shared sequencers that leverage L1 sequencing and its censorship resistance. This approach enables synchronous composability by allowing validators to validators to extend their capabilities.

The Growing Based Ecosystem

According to the latest sequencing call #16 from the Ethereum research team – the based ecosystem is on a positive trajectory. Currently, two Based-rollups are live, and by 2025, developers will launch over 5 more on the mainnet. You can also see the growth of the various projects building in the based-commitments, R&D, and operator segments. 

A segment that’s important to highlight is based operators. This is a nascent field where projects connect L1 validators directly to based commitments public goods like Commit-boost as a framework to handle based validator commitments for services. Building the means to connect L1 validators directly to services will be an essential step for the based movement. 

As for the other innovations in the based ecosystem ‘Pilloors’ are also a relatively new category whereby projects focus on public goods for based infrastructure – “impilling” them to go based. Other projects are supporting the based movement e.g. Scroll, which is building an SDK for based-rollups. 

As we can see there is lots of effort going into supporting the based movement with increasing numbers of projects building under the based umbrella.

How the ‘Based Movement’ Can Contribute To More Than Just L2s

All of the above essentially boils down to a bootstrapping problem. So what if applications and other out-of-protocol services like oracles and bridges could bootstrap in the same way? By directly utilizing the Ethereum validator set. 

Ethereum needs a shared security standard with frictionless interoperability. Shared infrastructure that’s credibly neutral and can serve Ethereum wide. Allowing developers to choose Ethereum instead of working in a sub-ecosystem. 

The Need for a Based Infrastructure Layer

A based infrastructure layer can bridge this gap by directly connecting Ethereum’s validator set to applications and services. Eliminating the need for multiple sidecars and reducing operational complexity, in turn, simplifying bootstrapping.

Such an infrastructure could take the form of an open, credibly neutral platform where validators seamlessly support validator commitments and provide security to bootstrap any application. This would ensure frictionless bootstrapping for new applications and services directly on the Ethereum L1.

SSV Network has Something In The Works

As the based ecosystem grows, SSV Network is in a perfect position to play a key role. As the leader in distributed validator technology (DVT), SSV Network has secured over 60,000 validators with over 1,200 globally decentralized node operators in a growing ecosystem of DVT-powered staking applications. Stay tuned—this is just the beginning of the based economy.

Website | Builders Hub | Network Hub | Discord | Dev Center | Documentation | GitHub