Avalanche Blockchain's X and C Networks See Brief Outage

On-chain data shows that transactions sent over X-Chain are lagging, while C-Chain has recovered from an earlier outage.

AccessTimeIconMar 23, 2023 at 7:37 a.m. UTC
Updated Mar 23, 2023 at 3:27 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Avalanche’s AVAX token fell nominally after nodes on the protocol’s X- and C-Chains went down due to bugs in a new software release.

(Snowtrace screenshot)
(Snowtrace screenshot)

Avalanche is unique as it uses three chains: the C-Chain, X-Chain and P-Chain.

The C-Chain is home to Avalanche’s decentralized finance (DeFi) community and is the chain that hosts smart contracts and is used with MetaMask. The X-Chain is the exchange chain, used to send funds back and forth. The P-Chain is the platform chain, which is used for staking AVAX and serving as a validator.

While the C-Chain recovered after an hour-long outage, some X-Chain nodes are still offline as of time of publication.

On-chain data shows the network quality of X-Chain has been degraded, and it's only able to process a handful of transactions. It appears that it's only able to process a few transactions per hour, making the chain virtually unusable.

Avalanche's X-Chain (AVAScan)
Avalanche's X-Chain (AVAScan)

Over 90% of validators have upgraded to the latest version of AvalancheGo. This is up from 12% earlier Thursday.

While Avalanche has yet to make a public statement regarding the outage, many contributors are working on its GitHub forum to resolve the issue.

AVAX is trading for $16.89 at writing time in Asian afternoon hours on Thursday.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.