Torano, a service modelled after Bitcoin ordinals, faced a critical situation when it nearly crashed TON, the blockchain it operates on.
The TON blockchain struggled, managing a mere 1 transaction per second, a drastic contrast to its capacity of processing 100,000 transactions per second.
The crisis forced Torano to halt its minting process, and several widely-used TON wallet services had no choice but to cease operations temporarily.
The emergence of services akin to Bitcoin ordinals has sparked a heated debate within the developer community, leaving opinions divided on whether these developments are a newfound concern or a beneficial advancement.
Recent revelations by Luke Dashjr, a Bitcoin core developer, stirred controversy within the cryptocurrency sphere. Dashjr highlighted a vulnerability within the Bitcoin network, asserting that ordinals and blockchain "inscriptions" persisted due to an existing bug, leading to network congestion.
Surprisingly, shortly after this disclosure, the TON blockchain faced near-collapse following a significant slowdown in transaction processing this week, instigated by a new ordinals-inspired project's launch on TON.
Background on TON and Torano: Torano, a recently introduced service on TON, mirrors Bitcoin inscriptions by enabling users to create inscriptions complying with the TON20 token standard. Launched this week, Torano garnered immense popularity among TON users, who actively created and shared inscriptions, mimicking the surge seen in Bitcoin.
This sudden spike in activity echoed Bitcoin's experience, congesting the TON blockchain and drastically slowing transaction processing to less than 1 transaction per second, a stark contrast from its previous capacity of around 100,000 transactions.
The subsequent backlog escalated, with over 2.5 million pending transactions by Thursday, forcing Torano to temporarily halt minting, citing "user experience" issues.
TON Struggles and Technical Challenges: In response to the congestion, prominent TON wallet services like Tonkeeper suspended operations. Technical reports hinted at Torano contributing to the problem, aggravated by inadequate validator nodes and hardware incapability.
The network's rapid expansion exposed weaknesses among validators, causing widespread failures and network degradation. The reported solution involves patching these issues, penalizing unprepared validators to prevent future delays.
Assessing the Ordinals Controversy: Dashjr's critique sparked debates on the legitimacy and significance of Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens, labeled by Dashjr as exploitative and disruptive. Some argued these tokens merely exploit Bitcoin's vulnerability, while proponents see them as avenues for innovation and creativity.
Whether Ordinals signify a new blockchain nuisance remains subjective. While Dashjr deems them as spam, others view them as valuable assets within the Bitcoin ecosystem, reflecting a broader discourse on the utility of such tokens.
In conclusion, Ordinals seem entrenched in the crypto landscape, representing both innovation and contention.
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims for accurate information, yet disclaims liability for missing facts or inaccuracies. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile; research is vital for financial decisions.