Are you an LLM? Read llms.txt for a summary of the docs, or llms-full.txt for the full context.
Skip to content

ADR-001: Base as primary registry chain

  • Status: Accepted
  • Date: 2026-04-22
  • Deciders: Core team

Context

Oniym requires a single "home" chain where names are registered and ownership is stored. The choice affects three things:

  1. Cost to users — registration and address updates
  2. Trust assumptions — chain security, decentralization
  3. Ecosystem reach — wallets and dApps that integrate natively

Candidates considered:

ChainGas costEcosystemMaturityENS precedent
Ethereum L1Very highLargestHighestENS lives here
BaseVery lowLargeHighBasenames
ArbitrumVery lowLargeHigh—
OptimismLowMediumHigh—
Scroll/LineaVery lowGrowingMediumLinea Names
SolanaVery lowLargeHighBonfida

Decision

Primary registry chain: Base.

Rationale

  1. Cost — Base gas is consistently sub-cent for reads and <$0.10 for writes, making registrations affordable globally (critical for users outside the US/EU).

  2. Ecosystem reach — Base has the largest consumer wallet footprint among L2s (Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask integration, Farcaster). This matches our target: end users, not power users.

  3. EVM-native — enables Solidity + Foundry tooling, EIP-compatible resolvers, and ENS-interface compatibility where useful.

  4. Precedent — Basenames proved the L2 naming model at scale. Users and wallets already understand "name lives on Base."

  5. Upgrade path — Base's OP Stack roots mean eventual decentralization of the sequencer is planned. We avoid chain lock-in by keeping all state readable via standard RPC.

  6. CCIP-Read compatibility — Base is well-supported by L1 CCIP-Read gateways (planned week 7 feature).

Consequences

Positive

  • Registration cost target (<$5/year) is easily achievable
  • Fast finality for good UX
  • Large existing user base
  • Foundry/Solidity standard tooling

Negative

  • Base is a relatively young chain (2023) vs Ethereum (2015)
  • Centralized sequencer (Coinbase) is a short-term trust assumption
  • Potential Coinbase regulatory risk affects operations

Mitigations

  • Contracts are upgradeable via timelock multisig, enabling future migration if needed
  • All data is reconstructable from on-chain events — no off-chain dependency
  • CCIP-Read gateway (future) allows L1 Ethereum resolution without Base read dependency for users who want maximum decentralization

References