Base suffers first major outage since launch

Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 network, Base, suffered its first major outage since its public launch on Aug. 9.

For about 45 minutes on September 5, no new blocks were generated on the Base chain. According to the Base state, its developers first determined that block production was “stalled” at 9:36 PM UTC Place.

*Block production for the Base network ceased at 9:36pm on September 5th. Source: BaseScan*

“We’ve seen block production delays due to some of our internal infrastructure needing to be updated. We’ve implemented fixes and seen widespread recovery,” Coinbase told Cointelegraph in response to inquiries about the outage.

Base claims the issue has been discovered, the team has now deployed a fix, and block production has “broadly resumed.” It is continuing to monitor the chain for further issues.

*The base developer said the cause of the outage had been identified and repaired.Source: Base*

Matt Willemsen, director of research at crypto education platform Collective Shift, highlighted the differences in using ethereum’s layer 2 networks, claiming that they are not as “tested” as the ethereum mainnet.

Coinbase’s Base chain just experienced its first major outage, which lasted 43 minutes. Blocks just started being produced again.

Another reminder, using Ethereum L2 (e.g. Arbitrum One, OP Mainnet, zkSync Era, Base) is not the same as using Ethereum Mainnet which is more… pic.twitter.com/JbUNQUGNwu

— Matt Williamson (@matt_willemsen) September 5, 2023