Solana price dips as outage requires a network restart

A halt of the Solana blockchain prompted the release of a software patch

February 6, 2024 07:13 am

Solana’s Anatoly Yakovenko | Montinique Monroe for Blockworks

The Solana mainnet, which is still technically referred to as “mainnet-beta” halted at approximately 5:30 am ET, effectively pausing all activity on the chain.

The major outage required a network restart. Engineers responded with a validator software patch about an hour after the incident, to allow validators to upgrade to version 1.17.20 and coordinate on getting the chain moving once again.

Loading Tweet..

Newsletter

Subscribe to Blockworks Daily

Most of Solana’s validators were using either version 1.17.16 or 1.17.18 according to node data provider solanabeach.io.

A network restart — a process which can take hours — completed shortly before 10:00 am ET, as soon as validators with more than 80% of the SOL staked, collectively, become active post-upgrade.

Now, work begins on restarting dapps on the network and assessing the downstream effects.

Loading Tweet..

The price of solana (SOL) fell by about 3% to $93.39 as news of the outage spread, but has recovered 2% since, to trade at $95.14 as of 10:30 am ET.

Solana had remained in continuous operation for almost a year, previously suffering major outages in February 2023, June 2022, and September 2021.

Last updated on Feb. 6 at 10:35 am ET with additional context.

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Newsletter

Blockworks Daily

Upcoming Events

Digital Asset Summit 2025

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

learn more

recent research

Research

Analyst Takes: Post-Election Insights

With the recent election, it’s clear that there will be a meaningful shift in crypto regulations and legislation. Trump is likely as pro-crypto as a president can be. He launched (multiple) of his own NFT collections and is launching an Aave wrapper called World Liberty Fi. He has also spoken out and mentioned that he wants to make the United States "the crypto capital of the planet" and transform it into the "Bitcoin superpower of the world". He proposed creating a strategic national Bitcoin stockpile alongside support from Senator Cynthia Lummis, promising to retain 100% of all Bitcoin held by the U.S. government. More importantly, we’re likely to see deregulation across the board in a lot of industries, with crypto being one of them - as Trump has committed to keeping the crypto market largely unregulated. Crypto, DeFi in particular, has historically been knee-capped by overreaching and hostile governmental agencies and regulation by enforcement, as evidenced by the plethora of Wells notices and lawsuits over the past few years. With Donald Trump winning the presidency, Republicans taking control of the Senate, and being on the verge of securing the House, we think it’s likely that crypto realizes positive regulatory clarity. Below, you can find our analysts’ takes:

by Boccaccio