Base Releases First Independent Network Upgrade Azul, Scheduled for Mainnet Activation on May 13

Foresight News reports that Base has announced its first independent network upgrade, Base Azul, which has been launched on the testnet, with a target mainnet activation date of May 13, 2026. This upgrade marks Base's first network-level upgrade independent of the OP Stack. According to the official statement, Azul will bring improvements in three areas: security, performance, and developer experience. Through Azul, Base will enable a multi-proof mechanism, make the base-reth-node its sole execution client, and adopt the latest execution layer specification (Osaka) to maintain alignment with Ethereum. Users are not required to take any action for this upgrade. Additionally, Base announced that the next two upgrades are expected to include a performance-focused upgrade at the end of June and a user experience-focused upgrade at the end of August. In mid-May, Base will also launch Base Vibenet, a public development network for developers to test upcoming features and provide early feedback.