Solana Down: Engineers released a new validator software update (v1.17.20) to restart the Solana network after a 5-hour outage halted block production at 10:00 UTC on Tuesday. Spot trading, derivatives, staking, and other activities were suspended during the downtime.
The Solana team stated:
“Core contributors are working on a root cause report, which will be made available once complete.”
Patch Release and Network Restart
Validator Software Update:
- The patch addressed cluster instability issues causing the outage.
- Validator operators were instructed to upgrade and restart nodes.
Stake-Based Recovery:
- Block production resumed at 14:57 UTC once 80% of staked validators restarted.
- South Korea’s Upbit temporarily suspended SOL, GMT, RAY, and ACS token transactions due to the outage.
👉 How does Solana’s consensus design contribute to outages?
Root Causes and Systemic Challenges
- BPF Loader Failure:
Matthew Sigel (VanEck) identified a Berkley Packet Filter (BPF) bug triggered by a prior Solana Improvement Proposal (SMID). - On-Chain Consensus:
Validator communications occur on-chain, escalating transaction volume and TPS (transactions per second).
Historical Outages and Performance
| Date | Duration | Cause |
|--------------|----------|--------------------------------|
| Feb 25, 2023 | 18 hours | v1.14 upgrade instability |
| Feb 6, 2024 | 5 hours | BPF loader bug |
SOL Price Impact:
- Dropped 4% post-outage but rebounded to $100 (+5%) amid broader market recovery.
FAQs on Solana Outages
Q: Why does Solana experience frequent outages?
A: Its on-chain consensus model and high TPS demand strain network stability.
Q: How are outages resolved?
A: Validators deploy patches and restart nodes—recovery requires 80% stake participation.
Q: What’s the long-term fix?
A: The team is optimizing BPF loaders and offloading consensus components.
👉 Explore Solana’s roadmap for improved uptime
Expert Insights
- Matthew Sigel: BPF metadata handling triggered the bug.
- Solana Status: 100% annual uptime missed by 20 days due to past outages.
Key Takeaway:
While Solana’s scalability is unmatched, its reliability hinges on mitigating on-chain bottlenecks.
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