TL;DR
- Outage Details: The TON Network experienced a six-hour outage on August 27, 2024, due to an abnormal load from the launch of the DOGS meme coin.
- Impact on Transactions: Major exchanges like Binance and Bybit temporarily suspended TON-related transactions during the outage.
- Resolution and Community Reaction: Validators restarted their nodes to restore consensus, resuming block production. The community expressed concerns about the network’s capacity.
The TON Network has resumed block production after a six-hour outage caused by a consensus failure. On August 27, 2024, the TON blockchain experienced a significant disruption, halting block production for over six hours. The outage began around 10:11 p.m. UTC and was attributed to an abnormal load on the network.
TON Blockchain is currently experiencing a disruption in block production.
The issue is occurring due to the abnormal load currently on TON. Several validators are unable to clean the database of old transactions, which has led to losing the consensus.TON Core has issued a call…
— TON 💎 (@ton_blockchain) August 28, 2024
This load was primarily due to the recent launch of the DOGS meme coin, which caused a surge in transaction volume. The influx of transactions overwhelmed the network, leading to database cleaning issues for several validators and ultimately causing the network to lose consensus.
Impact on Transactions
During the outage, major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and Bybit temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals of TON-related transactions. This precautionary measure was taken to protect users’ transactions and funds until the network stabilized.
Despite the operational challenges, TON’s native token, Toncoin (TON), maintained a relatively stable trading price of $5.34 during the outage. At the time of writing, the token continues its upward trend, increasing nearly 1%, and trading at around $5.50.
The TON community expressed mixed reactions to the outage. Some members raised concerns about the network’s capacity to handle large-scale events, highlighting that the network failed to meet its theoretical transaction per second (TPS) claims.
Mikko Ohtamaa, a blockchain enthusiast, pointed out that the network only reached a maximum of 280 TPS, far below the earlier claimed 55,000 TPS.
Steps Taken to Resolve TON Network’s Issue
TON is now producing blocks normally!
We are back online. https://t.co/iXM6kF464T pic.twitter.com/FQ6eOt9fok
— TON 💎 (@ton_blockchain) August 28, 2024
To restore consensus, TON called on validators to restart their nodes with specific flags. This coordinated effort successfully brought the network back online, and block production resumed normally.
Justin, a member of the TON Foundation, explained that the outage was due to an “overload from DOGS transactions” and emphasized the need for better network management to prevent future disruptions.
The recent outage has underscored the challenges blockchain networks face in managing high transaction volumes. As TON grows, addressing these technical issues will be crucial for maintaining network stability and user trust. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of robust infrastructure in the rapidly evolving world of blockchain technology.
