Here’s Why Solana Ceased Block Production for Seven Hours on Saturday

2 years ago

Shaurya is an analyst/editor for CoinDesk's markets squad successful Asia.

Bots tied to a caller non-fungible token (NFT) task built connected Solana caused a seven-hour web outrage connected Saturday, task developers confirmed successful a post connected Tuesday. No caller blocks were produced by the web during that time.

Solana processes an mean of 2,700 transactions per 2nd (tps), blockchain explorers show, with an precocious highest of implicit 710,000 tps connected a modular network, arsenic per developer documents.

However, connected Saturday nighttime millions of transactions flooded the web each second. This led to web validators – oregon entities that process transactions connected and enactment the web – to tally retired of representation and crash, developers said.

“An tremendous magnitude of inbound transactions (6 cardinal per second) flooded the network, surpassing 100 Gbps of postulation astatine idiosyncratic nodes,” developers wrote. “There is nary grounds of a denial of work attack, but alternatively grounds indicates bots tried to programmatically triumph a caller NFT being minted utilizing the fashionable Candy Machine program.”

Validators ran retired of representation portion trying to wide up transactions successful other, abandoned blocks. The fig of full forks that validators had to measure exceeded their capableness to bash truthful automatically, which led to a manual involution to hole the issue.

Bots had swarmed the fashionable NFT minting instrumentality known arsenic Candy Machine connected Saturday, arsenic reported. This was chiefly to instrumentality portion successful a caller NFT task mint.

However, that mint utilized a fixed terms for users alternatively of a Dutch auction – the accustomed process followed by crypto projects – which incentivized bots to nonstop a immense fig of transactions successful hopes of winning the mint. This caused spam connected the network.

Meanwhile, developers noted Solana has suffered intermittent congestion issues respective times successful the past months – with astir of these resulting from bot enactment targeted astatine NFT mints.

Changes are coming to combat those problems. Developers said the upcoming v1.10 release, presently stabilizing connected testnet, includes representation usage improvements to prolong the clip nodes tin endure dilatory oregon stalled consensus, which would assistance mitigate issues similar those seen connected Saturday.

Fees for prioritizing transactions are coming to Solana arsenic well, developers added. This could assistance mitigate the entirety of Solana getting affected due to the fact that of a azygous project.

Solana's SOL tokens commercialized astatine implicit $88 astatine penning time, arsenic per CoinGecko data. Prices are down a nominal 1.8% successful the past 24 hours.

The Festival for the Decentralized World

Thursday - Sunday, June 9-12, 2022

Austin, Texas

Save a Seat Now

DISCLOSURE

The person successful quality and accusation connected cryptocurrency, integer assets and the aboriginal of money, CoinDesk is simply a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict acceptable of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an autarkic operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests successful cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As portion of their compensation, definite CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, whitethorn person vulnerability to DCG equity successful the signifier of stock appreciation rights, which vest implicit a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to acquisition banal outright successful DCG.

Shaurya is an analyst/editor for CoinDesk's markets squad successful Asia.

Shaurya is an analyst/editor for CoinDesk's markets squad successful Asia.


Sign up for Valid Points, our play newsletter breaking down Ethereum’s improvement and its interaction connected crypto markets.

By signing up, you volition person emails astir CoinDesk merchandise updates, events and selling and you hold to our terms of services and privacy policy.

View source