ZetaChain Resumes Block Production Following 6-Hour Outage

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As a seasoned analyst with over two decades of experience in the ever-evolving world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, I have witnessed more than my fair share of outages, hacks, and technical glitches. The recent incident involving ZetaChain is certainly not the first of its kind, but it’s heartening to see a young project like this one bounce back swiftly after a brief disruption.

ZetaChain, a Layer-1 blockchain dedicated to interoperability, has restarted its block production following a temporary downtime. This network hiccup lasted approximately 6 hours, initiating around 11:53 p.m. UTC on Thursday. As reported by the team managing this blockchain, the outage was caused by a technical problem. Specifically, it stemmed from a consensus issue linked to a fresh update implemented for a select group of validators, which resulted in the failure of reaching an agreement during the validation process.

From ZetaChain Mainnet to Testnet

The interruption has temporarily halted the exchange of data across different blockchains. Yet, all transactions will be processed as soon as a thorough examination of the current state of affairs has been conducted. Although ZetaChain has resumed operation, they are currently still investigating the situation.

Tomorrow, we’ll provide an analysis of what happened, including identifying the main issue by recreating it in a testing environment,” the message stated.

It proved essential to carry out a thorough inspection following the outage on the ZetaChain testnet at the start of Friday morning. Since this incident happened on the main network as well, the test network ceased block production due to the identical problem.

Back in January of this year, ZetaChain debuted its main network, which has been running for about nine months now. The goal of this L1 network is to serve as a universal platform that offers ease of use, accessibility, and practicality across all blockchain networks. Therefore, the launch of the mainnet represents a significant step towards fully activating ZetaChain, enabling it to smoothly connect Bitcoin, Ethereum Mainnet, and BNB Chain.

Primarily, the release of the mainnet signified a significant advancement in increasing cryptocurrency usage, as it expanded user options with the addition of cross-chain capabilities.

A key aspect of this network is that it allows developers to implement Omnichain Smart Contracts on ZetaChain’s EVM, using the ZRC-20 standard. When ZetaChain’s mainnet was first launched in beta, it came equipped with ZetaHub. This accessible platform serves as a welcoming gateway for users to interact directly with ZetaChain and its associated ecosystem.

Through this platform, you’ll find integrated features such as governance, Proof-of-Stake (PoS), and entry to the vast ZetaChain decentralized application (dApp) ecosystem. Users are able to track their on-chain activities within ZetaHub via a rewards system called Zeta XP. Eligible users can also claim their initial airdrop-earned ZETA tokens using the ZetaHub Claim feature.

ZetaChain Escapes Security Vulnerability and Hack

Before the main network’s debut, concerns arose about potential security issues within the blockchain. Experience shows that such initiatives often encounter specific difficulties.

An illustrative instance is the cross-chain network THORChain, which debuted in 2018. Primarily conceived to facilitate the exchange of native assets across numerous networks, such as BNB Smart Chain, Cosmos Hub, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Avalanche, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, THORChain serves this purpose.

Approximately three years after, it experienced an $8 million cyber attack, marking the third such incident in just one month. In a sequence of breaches, hackers drained more than 4,000 ETH from the system. Additionally, pNetwork encountered a security breach in 2021, with the culprits making off with around $12.7 million in Bitcoin. Desperate to recover these funds, the cross-chain platform offered a reward of $1.5 million at that time.

Although ZetaChain recently experienced a downtime, they have not disclosed any missing assets. This could imply that so far, ZetaChain has managed to avoid the security weakness that experts had predicted it might encounter.

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2024-11-01 13:18