TL;DR
- On November 21, 2024, the Sui blockchain experienced a significant outage, halting block production for over an hour and causing widespread concern among users and stakeholders.
- The outage led to an 11% drop in the SUI token’s value, with major exchanges like Upbit temporarily disabling SUI deposits and withdrawals to protect users.
- The downtime has raised questions about the reliability of the Sui network, with ongoing investigations by Mysten Labs and the Sui Foundation to identify and resolve the issue.
On November 21, 2024, the Sui blockchain, a decentralized layer-1 network designed for rapid smart contract deployment, experienced a significant outage. The network ceased block production for over an hour, causing widespread concern among users and stakeholders.
According to data from the Sui Network explorer, SuiVision, the last block was produced at 9:15 am UTC, and no new blocks have been generated since. This unexpected downtime has left the blockchain effectively stalled, impacting various dApps and transactions.
After a few hours of downtime, SUI has resumed block production. According to a post on X, the team explained the outage was due to a bug in the transaction scheduling logic.
Impact on SUI Token and Exchanges
The outage has had a notable impact on the SUI token, the native cryptocurrency of the Sui blockchain. The token’s value dropped nearly 11% following the incident, trading at approximately $3.40. Despite this decline, the SUI token remains up around 75% over the past 30 days.
Major cryptocurrency exchanges, including the South Korean exchange Upbit, have temporarily disabled SUI deposits and withdrawals due to network issues. This precautionary measure aims to protect users and maintain the integrity of transactions during the outage.
Community and Industry Reactions
The Sui blockchain’s downtime has sparked reactions from various industry observers and community members. Many have highlighted Sui’s ambitions to compete with Solana, one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Crypto YouTuber Ajay Kashyap commented on the situation, noting, “SUI blockchain is down. And they claimed to be a Solana Killer”. The outage has raised questions about the reliability and resilience of the Sui network, especially given its aspirations to become a leading platform for smart contract deployment.
wHAT SUI Foundation Said
“On the morning of November 21, 2024, Sui experienced its first network outage due to a bug in congestion control code, which had been recently upgraded to allow for better shared object utilization. Sui contributors quickly deployed a fix restoring normal network activity in two and a half hours. The rapid, collaborative response from Sui’s validator operators is an incredible testament to the strength of the Sui community and the enduring usability of the Sui network itself.” – Sui Foundation spokesperson
Blockchain outages typically result in failed transactions and an inability to access dApps running on the affected network, underscoring the importance of robust infrastructure and contingency planning.
