On Thursday around 4 p.m. (ET), the Ethereum blockchain encountered a temporary halt in processing ETH transactions and achieving consensus for approximately 25 minutes. The halt was noticed by Ansgar Dietrichs, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation. He stated that the beacon chain had a brief period of non-finalization but the robustness of the chain was showcased as transactions continued to be processed despite a slowdown in blocks. Prysmatic Labs co-founder Preston van Loon confirmed the incident and informed the public that developers were investigating the mainnet issues. An hour later, van Loon wrote that the finality issue had been resolved but the root cause of the problem was yet to be identified.
Upcoming Ethereum Hard Fork
The transaction processing halt occurred at a time when Ethereum developers were discussing block validity conditions and the upcoming hard fork, “Dencun.” The hard fork will incorporate the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4844, also known as ‘proto-danksharding.’ The Ethereum Beacon Chain community health consultant, Superphiz, mentioned the issue on Twitter and emphasized that regardless of the root cause, every vector must be hardened. The halt has brought attention to the importance of ensuring the robustness of the chain, as the blockchain is designed to be resilient against such issues.
In conclusion, the Ethereum blockchain experienced a temporary halt in transaction processing and achieving consensus on Thursday for approximately 25 minutes. The halt was resolved an hour later, but the root cause of the issue is yet to be identified. The halt occurred at a time when Ethereum developers were discussing block validity conditions and the upcoming hard fork, “Dencun.” The incident emphasizes the importance of ensuring the robustness of the chain and hardening every vector, as the blockchain is built to be resilient against such issues.