Ethereum encountered the problem that blocks could not be confirmed twice within 24 hours, which occurred at 4 a.m. on the 12th and 1 a.m. on the 13th respectively. What exactly happened? Will it have any impact on users?

Ethereum block cannot be finalized

According to Ethereum developer superphiz, when the problem first occurred yesterday, the Ethereum beacon chain was unable to finalize the block for about 25 minutes. It can be seen between Epoch 200,552 and Epoch 200,554 Although blocks have been produced one after another, the final confirmation has never been completed.

Regarding this incident, superphiz stated that it was unable to determine the cause, but it also added that the final confirmation mechanism was used to prevent block reorganization. No transactions were terminated and there would be no impact on on-chain activities.

Note: Finalizing is a basic feature of the blockchain and takes about 15 minutes on Ethereum. Once a block is finalized, the transactions of that block and previous blocks become permanent and immutable.

The beacon chain stopped finalizing about thirty minutes ago. I don't know why yet, but in general the chain is designed to be resilient against this, transactions will continue as usual and finalization will kick in when the problem is resolved. pic.twitter.com/utAS0uAWpG

— superphiz.eth (@superphiz) May 11, 2023

The same problem occurs for the second time! It will take longer

However, in the early hours of this morning, Bankless analyst Jack Inabinet discovered that the same problem reappeared and lasted for about an hour (Epoch 200,749 to Epoch 200,757).

Ethereum has failed to finalize for nearly an hour… for the second time in under 24 hours pic.twitter.com/T9gnjAv12H

— Jack Inabinet _ (@JackInabinet) May 12, 2023

The cause of this phenomenon is still unconfirmed, but most opinions point to the Ethereum client. Superphiz also recommended upgrading the hardware specifications after the second occurrence of the problem, switching to a smaller client, and applying for patches when available. (Patch).

At the same time, superphiz even asserted that a third occurrence is expected, but he also once again called on the Ethereum community not to worry, because as everyone can see, Ethereum has not stopped running and the final confirmation of the block will still be completed.

The second wave is over, but I fully expect a third. Increase your hardware spec if you can, switch to a minority client if you can. Apply patches when they're available. But really, don't worry too much. As bad as this looks, the chain keeps going and eventually finalizes.

— superphiz.eth (@superphiz) May 12, 2023

This article Ethereum failed to make final confirmation twice in 24 hours! What impact does it have on users, and does it happen frequently? First appeared in Chain News ABMedia.