Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN)'s Ethereum Layer-2 network, Base, experienced its first significant outage on Tuesday, lasting approximately 45 minutes. The disruption resulted from an issue with the network's internal infrastructure that required a refresh. The problem was acknowledged and fixed by the developers, who reported a "widespread recovery" of block production by Wednesday.
The issue, listed as a "Base chain stall" on the project status page, was first identified at 9:36 pm UTC on Tuesday. It led to difficulties for users submitting transactions. By 6:09 p.m. ET, Base reported the start of recovery in block production and gossip - node-to-node exchanges of state information. However, an issue with remote procedure calls (RPCs) delayed the issuance of an all-clear report until 90 minutes after the investigation began.
Despite the swift response from developers, the outage prompted numerous comparisons to other blockchain solutions and their relative stability. Matt Willemsen, head of research at crypto analytics firm Collective Shift, used the incident to highlight the differences between Ethereum's Layer 2 networks and Ethereum's mainnet. He noted that Layer 2 solutions are not as "battle-tested" as Ethereum's mainnet and involve fewer trust assumptions.
Base is a relatively new development in the crypto world, launched publicly by Coinbase on August 9, 2023. Despite its youth, Base has seen significant growth, recently logging daily transaction volumes greater than its Ethereum foundation. According to DeFi Llama data, it has generated $6 million in protocol fees, driven partly by its popularity with memecoin enthusiasts.
In its short existence, Base has announced native support for USDC and integrations with Ledger Live and the PancakeSwap decentralized exchange. It has also formed partnerships with Chainlink Aragon and several well-known consumer brands.
This incident marks the first major technical hiccup for Base since its launch. The network is back online as developers continue to monitor it for further issues.
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