Developers have successfully addressed the runtime bug that led to the latest Solana (SOL) network outage on June 1st. This glitch marked the fifth time in 2022 that the network experienced significant downtime, leaving many users scratching their heads and wondering if they should go for some fresh coffee while waiting for transactions to process.
The Culprit: Durable Nonce Transactions
According to a report from Solana Labs, this disruption stemmed from a problem in the ‘durable nonce transactions feature.’ During the outage, the network was unable to produce blocks for about four and a half hours. But don’t worry, Solana Labs has now promised to disable this troublesome feature in versions v1.9.28 and v1.10.23—a move aimed at preventing future network halts.
What Is a Durable Nonce Transaction?
So, what exactly are these durable nonce transactions? In essence, they are types of transactions that don’t expire, unlike the average transaction that vaporizes into digital space every two minutes. These transactions are particularly handy for services requiring additional time to validate actions, like custodial services that want to make sure you’re not trying to create chaos with your assets.
How the Bug Caused Chaos
The folks over at Solana Labs explained that durable nonce transactions operate using a different set of rules to avoid double processing. This wouldn’t normally be a big deal—until a runtime bug was triggered when a durable nonce transaction was mishandled as a regular transaction. Voila! Network downtime!
Resubmitting a Problematic Transaction
Here’s where it gets a little juicy: after the original durable nonce transaction failed, a user decided it would be a good idea to resubmit the same transaction. And just like that, the situation escalated, and the network ground to a halt like a teenager refusing to get out of bed on a Monday morning.
The Financial Fallout
Post-outage, the price of SOL took a nosedive—around 13.9% drop to $39.08 reported at the moment of writing. Meanwhile, the trading volume unexpectedly surged by 61%, reaching $2.141 billion. So, while investors might feel a bit jittery, it appears they’re still eager about trading!
Overall On-Chain Action Dips
In a larger context, data from Solana-centric analytics platform Hello Moon indicates a troubling drop in the total value successfully moved on chain. From a staggering $3.18 trillion peak on March 24, the average value plummeted to about $159.71 billion as of recent reports—proof that even the most robust networks face their share of ups and downs.
