Launched about a month ago, layer 2 Base was met with great enthusiasm from the community. However, an unintentional pause during the night somewhat marred the launch. What happened
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Base paused for an hour
Yesterday, Base confirmed the launch of the USDC on its layer 2, Base. But the positive news was followed by a technical issue a few hours later, which brought the blockchain to a halt for an hour. Base confirmed that the problem had been fixed, in a message that does not refer to an outage, but a “restart”:
Earlier today we had a delay in block production due in part to our internal infrastructure requiring a refresh.
The issue has been identified and remediated. No funds are at risk.
To stay updated, check https://t.co/ipa94DPBLq
– Base ️ (@BuildOnBase) September 5, 2023
“Earlier today we experienced a delay in block production, due in part to our internal infrastructure needing to be rebooted. The problem has been identified and resolved. Funds are not at risk. “
So it’s not clear what caused the Base outage. Coinbase’s second-layer solution is particularly young, so it may be possible to see problems of this type for networks that exist on top of Ethereum (ETH).
Base off to an exciting start
Layer 2s, which circumvent some of Ethereum’s limitations, have exploded in popularity in recent years. Created by the giant Coinbase, Base has attracted particular attention this month, even surpassing the volume processed by Ethereum.
However, this forced pause has been viewed with suspicion by some, who have been quick to compare Base to Solana (SOL), a blockchain with an unfortunate reputation for numerous failures. For some, including Matt Willemsen of the Collective Shift research group, this shows the limitations of layer 2 :
Coinbase’s Base chain just had its first major outage, lasting for 43 minutes. Blocks have just started to be produced again.
Another reminder that using Ethereum L2s (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 Willemsen (@matt_willemsen) September 5, 2023
“This is another reminder that using Ethereum’s layer 2s (e.g. Arbitrum One, OP Mainnet, ZkSync Era, Base) is NOT the same as using Ethereum’s mainnet, which has been tested more, and requires less initial trust. “
Layer 2s have for many become a necessity in the face of Ethereum’s limited scalability. But this type of problem reminds us that when you add a second technical layer, you also add complexity to the whole system. The fact remains that Base continues to generate excitement: at this stage, layer 2 has $380 million in total locked value (TVL).
