The Open Network (TON) blockchain is back online following a significant disruption in block production that lasted for several hours. The TON Foundation has reassured users that all crypto transactions will be processed without any loss of assets due to the brief outage.
TON Blockchain’s Recovery from Block Production Outage
The TON Foundation announced on its X page that the network has resumed normal block production as of August 28 at 5:30 am UTC. Data from the TON transaction scanner, Dton.io, confirms that the blockchain has resumed operations, now counting over 231 million blocks. The disruption was attributed to an unusual load on the network, primarily caused by the airdrop of a new TON-based memecoin, Dogs (DOGS). This incident resulted in several validators struggling to clean the database of old transactions, leading to a loss of consensus within the network. To restore stability, TON Core called for validators to restart at 4:00 am UTC, ensuring users that their transactions would be safe and that no assets would be lost during the issue.
The Impact of the DOGS Airdrop
Launched in July 2024, Dogs is marketed as the “most Telegram-native memecoin” and is inspired by Spotty, a mascot promoted by Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. The airdrop of Dogs tokens sparked massive interest, leading to unprecedented congestion on the TON network. The official Dogs Community channel on Telegram has attracted nearly 17 million subscribers in just two months, reflecting the token’s popularity. Following Durov’s arrest in France on August 24, the token saw significant trading activity, with major exchanges like Binance, Bybit, and OKX listing Dogs shortly after. This surge in demand led to a peak of over 67,000 transactions per second during the token generation event on August 26, far surpassing previous records. As a result, Wallet in Telegram, a third-party app, temporarily disabled some features to maintain stability during the claim process, with four million users successfully claiming their Dogs tokens.
Conclusion
The recent block production outage in the TON blockchain highlights the challenges posed by increased network activity and the impact of new token launches. While the TON Foundation has worked swiftly to restore operations and reassure users of transaction safety, the overwhelming interest in memecoins like Dogs illustrates the potential volatility and congestion that can arise in rapidly growing cryptocurrency ecosystems. As the TON network stabilizes, it remains to be seen how the community will adapt to the evolving landscape of digital assets.
