29-8-2024 (LONDON) The TON blockchain, originally developed by messaging giant Telegram, has encountered its second major disruption in as many days, raising concerns about the network’s stability and scalability.
On Wednesday afternoon, users were alerted to block production issues that began at 19:19 UTC. The TON Core team, responsible for the blockchain’s development, attributed the disruption to “heavy load” caused by the minting of DOGS tokens, a recent addition to the TON ecosystem.
“We are experiencing block production issues due to an unprecedented surge in network activity,” a TON Core spokesperson explained. “Our team is working tirelessly to implement a solution and restore normal operations.”
The team was quick to reassure users that their assets remained secure despite the outage. In an urgent message posted on social media platforms, mainnet validators were instructed to update their nodes and perform a restart, highlighting the severity of the situation.
Block production on TON experiencing disruption
Beginning 19:19 UTC.Appears to be due to heavy load attributed to DOGS token minting. TON Core is working on a solution.
We will continue to update you on the situation as it evolves. User cryptoassets are not at risk.
— TON Status (@ToncoinStatus) August 28, 2024
According to Tonscan, the blockchain’s block explorer, the last recorded blocks on the chain were timestamped at 16:23 UTC, indicating a significant pause in network activity.
Surprisingly, the market reaction to this latest setback has been muted. The TON token, the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, saw only a marginal decrease of 0.99% over a four-hour period and a 4% decline over 24 hours.
This recent outage follows closely on the heels of a previous disruption that occurred during Asian trading hours on Wednesday, lasting approximately six hours. Both incidents have been partially linked to the popularity of the DOGS token airdrop, an initiative by the TON Foundation to raise awareness about the recent arrest of Telegram founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, in France.
The DOGS token airdrop, while successful in garnering attention, appears to have strained the network beyond its current capabilities. One user humorously commented, “As long as I can finally withdraw my dogs, I can wait,” highlighting the community’s mixed reactions of frustration and patience.
