Bankless Did Ethereum Break? with Preston Van Loon & Terence Tsao
May 18, 2023
Join Preston Van Loon and Terence Tsao, co-founders of Prismatic Labs, as they delve into a critical incident on the Ethereum blockchain regarding block finalization failures. They discuss the implications of this disruption and explore the emotional reactions from the Ethereum community. The duo highlights the resilience of Ethereum, comparing its operational continuity to competitors and stressing the importance of client diversity. Their insights reveal how recent challenges ultimately contribute to the network's growth and maturity.
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Ethereum's Finalization Issue
- Ethereum experienced a temporary finalization issue due to clients struggling to process older attestations.
- This overload prevented timely block and attestation production.
Why the Issue Occurred
- The incident likely occurred due to a combination of higher validator count and increased deposits.
- Testnets hadn't replicated this scenario, leading to the unexpected mainnet behavior.
Visualizing Non-Finalization
- Non-finalization on Ethereum means the green bar on the beacon chain visualizer doesn't exceed two-thirds.
- Missing blocks and insufficient agreeing attestations prevent epoch finalization.