Blast Network Faces Block Production Halt during Ethereum Dencun Upgrade

The Layer-2 Blockchain Blast network experienced a block production interruption caused by the Ethereum Dencun upgrade.

Layer-2 Blockchain halted during Ethereum London Upgrade

📷 Hassan Shittu Last updated: March 13, 2024 19:33 EDT | 2 min read

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A Blast block explorer has reported that the Blast network has encountered a disruption in block production during the Ethereum Dencun upgrade. No blocks have been produced since approximately 14:05 GMT.

Designed as an experimental layer-2 solution on Ethereum, the Blast network offers a native yield on assets. The layer-2 blockchain team said a full analysis has been done on the issue and it will be shared shortly.

What Happened during the Ethereum Dencun Upgrade?

According to an announcement posted on X by the Blast project, the halt in block production is attributed to issues arising from Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade. The Dencun upgrade, a significant update for the Ethereum network, was deployed earlier in the day. Block production ceased around 10:00 AM ET following the upgrade.

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Upon discovering the issue, the Blast team promptly responded, with their core engineers actively working to find a solution. They provided an estimated timeframe of 30 to 60 minutes for implementing the fix. After approximately an hour, the Blast team announced that operations had returned to normal and full analysis of the incident will be published soon.

Additionally, they announced updates to the Blast node repository and provided guidance for users experiencing transaction issues during the downtime. They shared instructions for MetaMask and Rabby users and mentioned ongoing efforts to upgrade Blast nodes with Infura and BlockPi.

Blast Network Total Value Locked and Optimism’s Unfazed Block Production

As per data from L2 Beat, the total value locked in smart contracts on the Blast network, including its Ethereum multi-sig wallet, stands at approximately $2.96 billion. Several protocols, such as Orbit Protocol, Ring Protocol, and Pac Finance, have been developed on the Blast network or expanded to integrate with it.

In the last 24 hours, the largest protocol within the network, Orbit Finance, witnessed a huge uptick in total value locked (TVL), rising by 32% to reach $431 million. Despite this surge in TVL, the native token of Orbit experienced a notable decline in value, plummeting by over 20% today. This decline comes after the token’s issuance on March 8.

Blast faced initial scrutiny for soliciting deposits to a multisig wallet before its layer 2 went live. Despite this, it garnered $2.3 billion in deposits. Following its launch on the mainnet in late February, Blast, a fork of Optimism, surpassed Optimism as the second-largest Ethereum rollup by total value locked (TVL) as of Wednesday morning, according to DeFiLlama. The Blast ecosystem hosted 51 protocols, collectively securing over $1 billion in assets.

In contrast, Optimism continued its block production activities unaffected by the Dencun upgrade. Blast’s appeal to developers was evident, with over 3,000 projects participating in its developer contest to launch on the Layer-2 mainnet and receive an enhanced airdrop allocation. Developers highlighted the rollup’s deep liquidity and the successful track record of its founder in building the NFT marketplace Blur as key factors driving their interest in the platform.

The Future of Ethereum and Layer-2 Solutions

The Dencun upgrade is one of the most anticipated Ethereum hard fork upgrades since the Merge. This network upgrade is expected to make it much cheaper to use layer-2 networks, thanks to a new ability that lets the network store information for a limited amount of time rather than indefinitely.

With layer-2 solutions like Blast gaining traction and attracting a significant amount of value locked, it is clear that developers and users are looking for scalability and cost-efficiency on the Ethereum network. As these layer-2 solutions continue to improve and become more robust, they have the potential to revolutionize the blockchain industry by enabling faster and more affordable transactions.

🌐 References

1. Blast Network
2. The Dencun upgrade
3. Blast node repository updates
4. As per data from L2 Beat
5. DeFiLlama – Wednesday morning
6. Follow Us on Google News

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Q&A:

Q: What is the Blast network? A: The Blast network is an experimental layer-2 solution built on Ethereum that offers a native yield on assets.

Q: What caused the block production halt in the Blast network? A: The block production halt in the Blast network was caused by issues arising from the Ethereum Dencun upgrade.

Q: How long did it take to resolve the block production halt? A: The Blast team estimated a timeframe of 30 to 60 minutes to implement a fix. After approximately an hour, operations returned to normal.

Q: How much total value is locked in smart contracts on the Blast network? A: According to data from L2 Beat, the total value locked in smart contracts on the Blast network is approximately $2.96 billion.

Q: How did Blast perform compared to Optimism during the Dencun upgrade? A: Blast experienced a block production halt during the Dencun upgrade, while Optimism continued its activities unaffected. However, Blast surpassed Optimism as the second-largest Ethereum rollup by total value locked after its launch on the mainnet.

Q: What is the future outlook for Ethereum and layer-2 solutions? A: With the Dencun upgrade and the rise of layer-2 solutions like Blast, the future of Ethereum looks promising in terms of scalability and cost-efficiency. These solutions have the potential to revolutionize the blockchain industry by enabling faster and more affordable transactions.

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