Base Chain Stall and Recovery
On September 5, the network status tracker reported a ‘Base chain stall’, which affected the production of blocks. During this time, you may have experienced difficulties in submitting transactions. However, the tracker actively investigated the issue and identified the problem within 20 minutes. A bug fix was then applied, leading to the recovery of block production and gossip, which refers to node-to-node exchanges of state information.
Fixing Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) and Identifying the Issue
Despite resolving the base chain stall, there were ongoing issues with remote procedure calls (RPC) on the mainnet. It took approximately 1.5 hours for the team to verify the recovery of network health and RPC APIs. The incident was attributed to internal infrastructure requiring a refresh. Fortunately, no funds were at risk, and the issue has been fully identified and remediated.
Evaluating Base’s Performance and Comparison with Ethereum
Since its launch in mid-July, Base Mainnet has experienced its first major outage. However, its growth has been impressive, with recent announcements including native support for Circle’s USDC and integrations with Ledger Live, 1inch, and PancakeSwap DEX. Despite these achievements, scammers and fake tokens have targeted Base. Nevertheless, Base’s Total Value Locked (TVL) stands at $409 million, surpassing Cronos, THORChain, and Cardano. Additionally, it has become the fourth largest layer-2 network, overtaking dYdX, Starknet, and Loopring. It’s important to note that using Ethereum layer-2 networks like Base is not the same as using the Ethereum mainnet, which is more battle-tested and involves fewer trust assumptions.
Hot Take: Base’s Outage and Future Challenges
Base’s first major outage, lasting for 43 minutes, highlights the potential challenges that can arise in decentralized networks. While Base and other projects may be considered ‘Ethereum killers,’ they are not immune to technical difficulties. It serves as a reminder that the Ethereum mainnet has a longer track record and greater resilience. As Base and similar platforms continue to develop, it will be crucial to address and mitigate potential issues to ensure a reliable user experience.
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