Avalanche, the well-known decentralised application (DApp) platform recognized for its proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain, faced a significant technical disruption leading to a pause in block production. This interruption, which occurred on Feb. 23 at 12:02:27 pm UTC, prompted concerns within the cryptocurrency community, casting doubt on the network’s reliability.
Disruption in Block Production
The primary network of Avalanche encountered issues with block production, resulting in a cessation of new block generation across its P-Chain, X-Chain, and C-Chain subnets.This disruption, lasting over an hour, had a severe impact on the network’s operations, causing transaction processing delays and causing alarm among users.
Following the disruption, developers swiftly launched investigations to identify the underlying cause. Kevin Sekniqi, the co-founder of Ava Labs, shed light on the matter, suggesting a possible connection to a recent surge in transactions. Sekniqi hinted at a potential “esoteric bug” stemming from an edge case concerning mempool handling of transactions, indicating a potential software flaw affecting block finalisation.
Clarification and Resolution
Initially, there was speculation that the disruption was due to performance issues, but Sekniqi later clarified that it was a bug in the code. While transactions might have triggered the disruption, it was confirmed that the incident did not adversely impact network performance. Sekniqi reassured the community of a swift resolution, emphasising a commitment to taking immediate action.
This recent disruption mirrors a similar incident on March 23, 2023, when the C-Chain experienced block production halts. Sekniqi attributed the instability to a bug in version 1.9.12 of the Avalanche network, necessitating the deployment of a fix to restore stability.