Coinbase’s (NASDAQ: COIN) Layer-2 (L2) network Base is one of the most popular second layers built on top of Ethereum (ETH). On September 21, Base experienced an outage where no blocks were produced for 20 minutes, similar to Solana’s outages.
The event went unnoticed in the cryptocurrency market, with a discreet communication calling it “degraded performance” – after it was resolved. However, the problem was bigger than a simple “reduced performance”, as Base’s block production had come to a standstill and was effectively non-functional.
Jesse Pollak, creator of Base and leading developer of Coinbase, explained that this was the second outage of the network since its inception. The first was resolved more quickly, leaving the blockchain without new blocks for 15 minutes in early September 2023.
Slorg also discovered a parallel with network outages in Solana, which typically have extensive coverage.
“In contrast, Solana outages are picked up by the majority of crypto-adjacent news outlets. From Coindesk to Cointelegraph, Solana is being mercilessly harassed – clearly based on the tone of the headlines below.”
– Slg
The cryptocurrency influencer MartyParty expressed concerns about this recent outage and the way Coinbase handled its communications. Meanwhile, Mert Mumtaz, founder of Helius, explained that Base had more than 500 blocks with zero transactions, which meant an outage.
Nevertheless, related cryptocurrencies may suffer, with the network lacking a native token to cushion the blow. Base is one of the most popular Ethereum L2s and generates the majority of fee revenue in the ecosystem, despite its centralized nature around Coinbase.
Therefore, an outage can lead to uncertainty about the reliability of the system and damage decentralized Ethereum applications. Conversely, the team was praised for its quick response and technical skills to resolve the issue quickly.