Ethereum and Base will implement different account abstraction standards after negotiations to establish a shared standard broke down last week, according to Derek Chiang, a researcher at Ethlabs and co-author of Ethereum's EIP-8141 proposal.
Chiang noted in a Monday social media post that interoperability standards became secondary to each chain's core objectives, resulting in both networks pursuing separate paths and "putting the burden on wallets." Account abstraction enables programmable rules for authorizing transactions and paying fees.
Ethereum is advancing Frame Transactions under EIP-8141 as part of its Hegotá upgrade, which aims to introduce native account abstraction and create a pathway toward post-quantum authentication. Base is separately developing native account abstraction via Keystore under EIP-8130, which is currently live on devnet.
The divergence reflects different priorities between layer-1 and layer-2 blockchain networks. Layer-1 networks like Ethereum are increasingly prioritizing censorship resistance, open-source development, privacy, and security features that favor different account standards, while layer-2 networks focused on scalability like Base are more aligned with standards such as EIP-8130.
Chiang argued that the separation could have positive outcomes, allowing both Ethereum and Base to "innovate on account abstraction to the maximal extent in accordance with their own visions."
Ethereum developers could begin implementing Hegotá in late 2026, following the Glamsterdam upgrade expected to launch on mainnet in the second half of 2026. Glamsterdam is designed to improve scalability, strengthen the layer-1 network, and enhance usability.
