The Dash blockchain, a popular cryptocurrency network, halts following a recent upgrade attempt. Reports suggest that the upgrade process encountered unforeseen challenges, leading to a possible fork within the network. This unexpected development has left the Dash community and cryptocurrency enthusiasts concerned about the stability and future of digital currency.
According to various reports, the Dash blockchain experienced a complete halt at block height 1,874,879 after developers attempted an upgrade to version 19. Currently, available data suggests that the last block confirmed on the network occurred more than 16 hours ago.
Block production halts amidst uncertainty
The Dash network upgrade has encountered a failure, leading to the Dash blockchain halting hin block production. The cause of this interruption is currently unknown and under investigation.
On Monday, May 22, 2023, block production came to a halt, spurring Dash Core Group CTO Samuel Westrich to take to Twitter at 1:12 a.m. Eastern (ET) to address the surprising turn of events. In his tweet, he revealed that the Dash Core upgrade to version 19 had encountered a snag, causing the chain to stall and block production to cease.
“The blockchain has experienced a stall, leading to the cessation of block production. Our team is actively investigating the issue, and I will provide further updates on Twitter as we gather more information,” he wrote.
Possible fork detected as upgrade impacts Dash Blockchain
At 4:30 p.m. (ET) on Monday, block production in the Dash Blockchain network remains halted, with no signs of immediate resolution. Moreover, there are indications that the upgrade attempt may have led to a fork, resulting in the emergence of two separate chains. Notably, the blockchain explorer on dash.org reflects the last block mined as block height 1,874,879, which was attributed to Viabtc.
However, Blockchair’s explorer presents conflicting information, indicating that block 1,874,880 was mined by Binance’s mining pool. These disparities suggest the possible occurrence of a chain bifurcation within the Dash network.
The block production glitch swiftly gained traction on various social media platforms, including Twitter, as news of the incident circulated among users. Merely days prior, on May 15, the official Dashpay Twitter account had issued a reminder to all Dash network users, urging them to update their software in preparation for the forthcoming hard fork. Approximately five hours ago, a prominent Dash Core developer known as Pasta stated that the release of version 19.1.0 aimed to resolve the prevailing issues.
Dash Core Developer anticipates resolution with new release
Pasta, a Dash Core developer, expressed confidence in the resolution of the chain stall through the release of version 19.1.0. In a tweet posted at 1:33 p.m. ET on Monday, Pasta noted that once a sufficient number of master nodes and miners upgraded, the chain stall should be resolved. However, Pasta advised users to be mindful of the known issues mentioned in the release announcement and mentioned that a reindex might be necessary. Responding to Pasta’s tweet, a Twitter user with the handle “Dash Memes” expressed gratitude to the developers for the new release.
The Twitter user responded with gratitude, saying, “Thank you for your hard work in pushing this update out. I hope there will be a thorough post-mortem to assess how this situation occurred and identify measures to prevent its recurrence in the future. Today, Dash’s reputation has suffered significantly, and it is crucial that the solution addresses the underlying structural issues.”
In conclusion, the Dash blockchain faced a significant setback as block production halts following an attempted upgrade to version 19. Dash Core Group CTO Samuel Westrich took to Twitter to address the issue, revealing that the upgrade encountered a snag. There are indications of a possible fork within the network, further complicating the situation. The Dash Core development team released version 19.1.0 to address the issues, aiming for a resolution once a sufficient number of master nodes and miners are upgraded.
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