An error within Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Starknet caused a four-hour block outage on April 4, the protocol team revealed in an April 5 statement. The error was identified as a rounding error bug that led to a reorg of blocks, causing the transaction backlog to reach full capacity. This resulted in new transactions being rejected and some transactions being reverted due to changing parameters. The protocol team worked to clear the backlog and resume normal network operation, ensuring that relevant parties were in touch to prevent further issues.
The outage caused the price of Starknet to drop to $1.82 by Thursday morning, though it had increased to $1.91 by the time of publication. This incident is the latest challenge for the Israel-based protocol, which experienced delays in early March after adopting Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade to reduce Layer-2 rollup fees. In January, Starknet’s parent company, StarkWare Industries, saw its co-founder and CEO Uri Kolodny step down from his role due to personal medical challenges, with Eli Ben-Sasson taking over as CEO. Despite these challenges, Kolodny expressed confidence in the leadership of Ben-Sasson to take StarkWare forward.
Starknet is set to unlock its cryptocurrency, $STRK, in April following a major 728 million airdrop in February, with over 220 million claimed within hours of launch. The protocol currently has a market cap of nearly $1.38 billion and a fully diluted valuation of $18.9 billion, putting it on par with other layer-2 heavy-hitters. Founded in 2018, StarkWare Industries develops zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs to address scalability. Starknet’s goal is to provide low costs, fast transactions, and massive scaling on the Ethereum layer-2 protocol. Those eligible for the first round of STRK allocation from February have until June 20 to claim their tokens, with a full analysis of Thursday’s outage incident to be released by Starknet at a later date.
The rounding error bug that caused the four-hour block outage on Starknet has raised concerns about the protocol’s reliability and resilience. The incident resulted in rejected transactions and reverting of some transactions, impacting the network’s normal operation. Despite the challenges faced by Starknet, the protocol continues to strive for scalability and lower costs, with plans to unlock its cryptocurrency and address the issues encountered in past upgrades. The leadership changes at StarkWare Industries have not hindered the protocol’s progress, as new leadership steps in to guide the company through its challenges and continue its development.
The price of Starknet dropped following the outage, but has since recovered, indicating resilience in the protocol’s performance. The protocol’s market cap and valuation show its potential for growth and adoption in the layer-2 scaling space. With a focus on zero-knowledge cryptographic proofs and scalability solutions, StarkWare Industries is working towards providing a reliable and efficient layer-2 protocol for Ethereum. The upcoming release of the cryptocurrency $STRK and the analysis of the outage incident will provide further insights into the protocol’s future plans and improvements. Overall, Starknet’s commitment to addressing scalability challenges and enhancing network performance demonstrates its potential for success in the evolving blockchain landscape.
