The Sui Network, often referred to as the ‘Solana (SOL) killer,’ encountered a significant setback on November 21, when it experienced a major outage that suspended block production for over an hour.
Root Cause of the Outage
This disruption was reportedly triggered by a flaw in the network’s transaction scheduling logic, leading to a crash of the validator network. Sui confirmed the issue through a post on their X account, stating that the problem was addressed and resolved. However, the incident left many questioning the network’s reliability, as no blocks were produced during the nearly two-hour period of silence.
Impact on SUI Token Price
The outage had a noticeable impact on the SUI token’s value, which saw a decline of almost 7% at one point. Sui acknowledged that the network was back online and processing transactions, crediting the swift response of its dedicated community of validators for the speedy recovery.
Analysis and Findings
Further investigation by ExVul, a cryptocurrency security firm, suggested that the cause of the outage was likely a Denial of Service (DoS) bug within the system. This insight prompted several exchanges, including Upbit, to temporarily suspend SUI transactions as a precaution.
Can Sui Compete with Solana?
This incident has sparked debate regarding Sui’s capacity to rival Solana, which is currently ranked as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. It’s essential to note that Solana has also faced similar outages in the past, raising doubts about its ability to compete with established networks like Ethereum (ETH).
The recent outage marks the first significant disruption on the Sui mainnet. While Sui has experienced similar issues before, they were primarily confined to the testnet. Despite this setback, Sui has maintained an impressive uptime of over 99% over the last 90 days.
The Rise of Sui: Meme Coins and Beyond
Sui has been in the spotlight recently, largely due to the surge of meme coin activity on its network, with tokens such as Sudeng (HIPPO) gaining popularity. Additionally, the integration of USDC into its blockchain has played a pivotal role in boosting user engagement and network activity, further enhancing SUI’s valuation.
SUI Price Analysis
At the time of writing, SUI is trading at $3.63, reflecting a decrease of approximately 2.6% in the last 24 hours. However, over the past week, the token has exhibited a notable gain of nearly 10%.
While the Sui Network’s recent outage has raised concerns about its competitive stance against Solana, it remains crucial for Sui to focus on achieving greater stability. Solana has successfully navigated similar challenges in the past, but it remains to be seen if Sui can replicate such resilience.
