TL;DR
- Base will transition off Optimism’s OP Stack to a unified base/base codebase, targeting six hard forks per year and predictable upgrades.
- OP fell about 23% in 24 hours, hit $0.140, and hovered near $0.143 as traders repriced Optimism’s ecosystem role.
- Shorts near $7.9 million skewed derivatives bearish, even as whales added 60 million OP worth about $8.43 million; next support is $0.119, reclaiming $0.181 would help materially.
Base’s pivot away from Optimism’s OP Stack jolted the market, with OP sliding about 23% in 24 hours after Base confirmed the shift publicly and setting a new all-time low. The market takeaway is that ecosystem reliance is being repriced in real time. OP traded near $0.143 after briefly touching $0.140, extending a fragile downtrend that had already been weighed down by weak liquidity and souring sentiment. For investors, the question is straightforward: how much of Optimism’s narrative was tethered to Base’s growth, and what demand remains without that catalyst?
Base abandons OP Stack, accelerates upgrade cadence now
Base said it will move to a unified in-house technology stack, rolling core components like the sequencer and client releases into a single codebase called base/base. The operating goal is faster, more predictable upgrades with fewer dependencies. The team plans six smaller hard forks per year, double the prior pace, and framed the shift as simpler for developers and easier to manage for node operators. Base said it will stay compatible during the transition and expects no immediate disruptions for users, while still working with Optimism via OP Enterprise support.
The selloff also exposed positioning under the hood. Derivatives are leaning bearish, even as whales keep buying. On charts, the token sank nearly 20% after the announcement too. A liquidation map showed OP contracts heavily skewed toward shorts, with short exposure around $7.9 million. At the same time, wallets holding 1 million to 10 million OP added 60 million tokens over the past month, worth about $8.43 million at current prices. Analysts warned that macro uncertainty and reduced risk appetite have limited how much that accumulation can stabilize price action.
With OP down 61% from its 2026 peak, the technical roadmap looks unforgiving. The near-term line is $0.140, with $0.119 next if support fails. A reclaim of $0.181 as support would challenge the immediate bearish thesis, but futures traders appear positioned to defend downside momentum. Base, meanwhile, said it will strengthen decentralization by upgrading its Security Council and adding new signers, with enhanced security, zero-knowledge work, and better data availability planned as node operators prepare to adopt the new client. For Optimism holders, execution risk is as important as vision.
