Sui back online after nearly six-hour outage halts $1B in transactions

The Sui blockchain, a rapidly growing cryptocurrency network for sending and receiving transactions, has been restored and is now operational after nearly six hours of downtime. The outage that began in the afternoon halted transactions and froze over $1 billion in value on the network. 

The Sui Foundation, the blockchain’s organization, acknowledged the problem at 3:24 p.m. UTC on X and reassured users that core developers were currently working to resolve the issue. “The Sui network is now back and fully operational. Transactions are flowing normally. If you continue to experience issues, please refresh your app or browser window. Thanks for your patience. We will share a full incident review in the coming days,” the Foundation said.

According to the Foundation, the team began investigating the problem at 2:52 pm UTC and resolved it at 8:44 pm UTC, restoring the network after 5 hours and 52 minutes. The outage was described as a “Consensus outage,” a technical issue that prevents the blockchain from confirming transactions. The Foundation has not yet explained what caused the problem.

Sui is a Layer 1 network developed primarily by Mysten Labs, a team spun out of Meta’s canceled Diem stablecoin and wallet project, similar to rival high-throughput networks like Aptos. The network has reportedly seen steady growth and investor interest, having surpassed $10 billion in 30-day DEX volume around the time 21 Shares announced its intention to launch a leveraged ETF tracking its native token.

Sui faces its second major outage

The incident on Wednesday is the second severe outage of the Sui network since it began operating in May 2023. The first occurred in November 2024, when the high-speed blockchain developed challenges over time. 

Other networks, such as Solana, have faced comparable issues in the past. Solana has not experienced outages in the last 18 months, at least in part due to emergency updates that enable validators – computers responsible for maintaining the network – to engage in more effective communication and address critical issues more quickly.

Blockchain outages may include 51% attacks, technical errors, and other issues. A typical error occurs in this case, as nodes, i.e., individual entities responsible for processing transactions, are unable to synchronize with each other, resulting in the blockchain becoming offline.

Software bugs may be another error vector, where outdated code can render the network’s processes inoperable. Just last week, Solana’s status account on X urged validators to upgrade to a new version featuring a “critical set of patches.” Updates like these are made to prevent downtime and ensure seamless transaction continuity. Even high-speed blockchains are vulnerable to technical failures, as the comparison suggests, so preventive maintenance can help avoid such scenarios.

In a related development, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has recently suggested that decentralized applications (DApps) could help address recurring issues with internet infrastructure. Citing events like the major Cloudflare outage in November, he emphasized the need to strengthen and stabilize online systems.

Following these ongoing issues with internet infrastructure, Buterin shared an X post dated Thursday, January 1, arguing that Ethereum needs to put in extra effort to attain its goal of developing the world computer, which functions as a key infrastructure piece of a freer and open internet.

Afterwards, he asserted that this strategy starts with DApps that carry out their activities without fraud, censorship, or interference from third parties. Ethereum’s co-founder also noted that DApps can be broadly utilized on the blockchain.

Sui token surges briefly during network issue

Sui’s native token, SUI, held roughly the same throughout the outage. CoinGecko data showed that the token’s price jumped by 4% upon news of the network issue, before returning to around $1.84.

Market reactions to the outage and subsequent service recovery may have triggered the temporary spike. Despite the pause in transactions, investor and user confidence in the network is not only indicative of the increasing acceptance but also indicates the rapidity with which the Sui team was able to resolve the problem.

The Sui Foundation is still investigating the root cause of the “Consensus outage,” but users can now resume normal activity on the network.

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