Ethereum Layer-2 network Starknet resumed normal operations early on September 2, 2025, after a major outage disrupted its block production for more than two hours. The downtime halted all transaction processing and affected decentralized applications across the network.
What Caused the Outage?
The network disruption came just days after the rollout of Starknet’s much-anticipated “Grinta” upgrade (v0.14.0). This update was designed to boost decentralization and efficiency through:
- A switch from a single sequencer to a three-node Tendermint-based consensus mechanism
- Near-instant transaction pre-confirmations
- A revamped fee model inspired by Ethereum’s EIP-1559
- Claims of block production running up to seven times faster
Despite these ambitious improvements, the upgrade introduced instability, ultimately causing the network failure.
How Starknet Brought It Back Online
To restore normal operations, developers initiated a chain reorganization starting at block 1,960,612. This rollback eliminated around one hour of network activity, meaning transactions submitted between 2:23 a.m. and 4:36 a.m. UTC were dropped. Users must now resubmit those transactions.
Block production has since resumed, and most RPC (Remote Procedure Call) providers are back online. Remaining nodes are currently being upgraded to prevent further disruptions and ensure overall stability.
Market and Community Response
Starknet’s native token, STRK, quickly reacted to the outage, dropping approximately 5% to trade near $0.123.
In response to the incident, the Starknet team has promised a full post-mortem report. This will include:
- A breakdown of the root cause
- A timeline for fixes
- Measures to avoid similar issues in future upgrades
This episode highlights the inherent risks involved in scaling Ethereum through advanced solutions like zero-knowledge rollups. As projects aim for greater decentralization and faster throughput, stability under stress remains essential.
