Coinbase’s Base Network Suffers Two-Hour Shutdown Due to Consensus Failure

Key Points

• Base network experienced nearly two hours of downtime Thursday following a consensus fault
• The issue stemmed from an invalid block being sequenced, which stopped new block creation
• Normal block production resumed around 6 pm UTC, with infrastructure syncing restored across the ecosystem
• Jesse Pollack, Base’s creator, assured users that all network funds remained secure
• The network disruption occurred just before the planned Beryl upgrade, which later completed successfully

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The Coinbase-supported Base network, a prominent Ethereum layer-2 solution, experienced a significant disruption Thursday when a consensus malfunction led to the processing of an invalid block, bringing all transactions to a standstill for approximately two hours.

Initial alerts surfaced at 4:03 pm UTC when Base’s monitoring systems indicated block production had become “unhealthy.” The technical team pinpointed the root issue by 5:21 pm UTC: a consensus error had allowed an invalid block to enter the sequence, effectively blocking the creation of subsequent blocks.

Network functionality was restored shortly before 6 pm UTC, with Base announcing that block generation had returned to normal operations and ecosystem infrastructure had successfully synchronized. The development team committed to releasing a comprehensive incident analysis.

Node operators received guidance to reboot their Base nodes to ensure proper synchronization. Base’s internal infrastructure was verified to be syncing appropriately after the restoration.

User Assets Remain Secure During Downtime

Jesse Pollack, the architect behind Base, took to X to provide assurances that no user funds were compromised during the shutdown period. He characterized the service interruption as unacceptable and committed to leveraging this incident to strengthen Base’s infrastructure for supporting “global, 24/7 finance.”

[[LINK_START_0]]Base[[LINK_END_0]] has yet to publish detailed findings regarding what specifically triggered the invalid block or whether the fault originated from a code defect or another consensus-related issue. A detailed technical post-mortem is forthcoming.

This marks the second notable disruption for Base. The network faced a previous outage in August 2025 lasting approximately 33 minutes. Thursday’s incident represented a considerably longer disruption, extending close to the two-hour mark.

Network Upgrade Proceeds Following Service Restoration

The service disruption occurred mere hours before Base’s scheduled Beryl network upgrade, originally slated for 6 pm UTC. Despite the earlier complications, the upgrade proceeded as intended and concluded successfully around 8 pm UTC.

The Beryl implementation was designed to minimize withdrawal timeframes on the network while introducing an innovative token framework tailored for real-world assets and stablecoins.

The two incidents appear unrelated. Base’s team has not suggested any connection between the Beryl upgrade and the earlier outage.

As the leading Ethereum layer-2 solution by usage metrics, Base’s downtime Thursday represented an unusual occurrence for a blockchain network of its scale.

Separately, layer-1 network Sui encountered two consecutive daily outages in May, both triggered by network updates carrying acknowledged low-probability risks of system halts.

Base’s engineering team indicated they would maintain enhanced monitoring of network stability while continuing their investigation and providing additional updates.

The successful implementation of the Beryl upgrade later Thursday evening signaled the network’s full return to standard operational status.