Ethereum Layer 2 Starknet resumes block production after network outage

Starknet is back online after an outage early Tuesday, with block production restored and most RPC providers operating again as remaining nodes upgrade, according to an update shared on X and activity seen via the blockchain's explorer. 

The Ethereum Layer 2 network had experienced hours of downtime earlier today, which halted onchain transactions on the zero-knowledge rollup as builders worked to solve the issue. “Starknet is currently experiencing downtime,” the project said about the incident. 

Starknet is a ZK L2 blockchain that batches transactions offchain and posts cryptographic proofs to Ethereum, aiming to lower fees and boost throughput while inheriting Ethereum’s security.

To stabilize the network, developers committed a chain reorganization from block No. 1,960,612, comprising roughly one hour of activity. They also noted that the chain did not process transactions submitted between approximately 2:23 a.m. and 4:36 a.m. UTC, as devs focused on restoring regular services. Users whose transactions do not appear onchain may need to resubmit them. An analysis of the issue is expected. "A detailed retrospective, including the full timeline, root cause, and long-term prevention measures, will follow," Starknet wrote.

The outage comes as Starknet rolls out new initiatives, including a recently ratified measure that gives bitcoin stakers limited influence in consensus and continued work on its SN Stack for app chain development.

Multi-hour disruptions remain rare on Starknet. QuickNode status data shows 100% uptime in recent months aside from a brief July hiccup of roughly 15 minutes. The last comparable unplanned outage occurred on April 5, 2024, a four-hour interruption caused by a rounding error bug that triggered a chain reorganization.