Binance to pause Base deposits and withdrawals for Cobalt upgrade
Binance will halt deposits and withdrawals on Coinbase's Base network around 17:00 UTC on 30 September 2026 to support the Cobalt upgrade and hard fork, while trading continues unaffected.
Key points
- Binance will suspend Base network deposits and withdrawals at about 17:00 UTC on 30 September 2026.
- The Base network upgrade and hard fork is expected around 18:00 UTC the same day.
- Base is an Ethereum layer 2 incubated by Coinbase and is undergoing the Cobalt upgrade.
- Cobalt improves the B20 token standard, adds validity transactions and moves TEE signer registration to onchain attestation verification.
- Trading of Base network tokens will not be affected, and services resume once the upgraded network is stable.
Binance will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals on the Base network to support an upcoming upgrade and hard fork, U.Today reports. The exchange said the pause will begin at about 17:00 UTC on 30 September 2026, with the Base network upgrade and hard fork expected around 18:00 UTC the same day.
Base is an Ethereum layer 2 network incubated by the crypto exchange Coinbase. The upgrade, known as Cobalt, is set to bring a series of technical changes to the network, according to the report. Binance said it is handling all technical requirements for its users as part of the support process.
The Cobalt upgrade improves the B20 token standard, allowing users to pay transaction fees in B20 tokens, schedule multiplier updates, simplify transfer blocking and adopt new Union and Intersect policies. It also introduces validity transactions. Dynamic upgrades add an Ethereum smart contract that stores upgrade timestamps for Base nodes, so nodes can query the contract and apply changes live.
Binance sets Base pause
Cobalt also changes how new Trusted Execution Environment signers are registered. Under the change, AWS Nitro attestations can be verified trustlessly and fully onchain using checked P-384 hints, replacing the RISC Zero and Boundless proving flow, the report states.
Binance said trading of tokens on the Base network will not be impacted during the maintenance window. Deposits and withdrawals will reopen once the upgraded network is deemed stable, and the exchange said it will not issue a separate announcement for the resumption.
The report also notes a separate upgrade, called Denim, planned for October 2026. Denim is expected to introduce native blocks at a 200 millisecond cadence, onchain millisecond time through BaseTime, and millisecond resolution RPC timestamps.
What Cobalt changes
The suspension is a routine operational step for exchanges supporting network changes, and it affects only transfers in and out of Base on Binance. Holders can still trade Base-based tokens on the exchange while the upgrade is carried out.