Zilliqa Experiences Third Major Outage in Four Months

Zilliqa, a blockchain network that utilizes sharding technology to enhance scalability and efficiency, is facing significant challenges with repeated technical disruptions. On January 16, 2025, the network experienced its third major outage in just four months due to synchronization issues with its look-up nodes, which play a crucial role in validating transactions and supporting the network. The failure of these nodes caused a disruption, preventing transactions from reaching the blockchain.

During the downtime, Zilliqa assured its users that their funds remained secure and recommended checking balances through the on-chain explorer ViewBlock.io. The team quickly apologized for the inconvenience and stated that resolving the issue was their top priority.

This latest disruption adds to a troubling pattern of technical issues for Zilliqa. In late September 2024, the network experienced a major outage when a bug caused a complete halt in block production, leaving users unable to transact or access their funds. While the team introduced what they called a “permanent fix” afterward, just two days before the major disruption, another bug had already caused a slowdown in block creation, though it didn’t fully halt it. Both issues came soon after the rollout of Zilliqa 2.0, an upgrade aimed at improving network performance and cross-chain compatibility. This raised concerns about the reliability of the network’s infrastructure post-upgrade.

These repeated technical problems have sparked frustration among the Zilliqa community, with users expressing concern about the network’s future, especially as it aims for wider adoption. One user warned that if these outages continue to occur before the network achieves broader adoption, potential clients might lose trust in Zilliqa’s reliability. Another lamented that these disruptions are dampening enthusiasm among new users or “normies.”

This is not the first time Zilliqa has faced such disruptions. In May 2024, the network experienced a slowdown in block production, and in December 2023, another incident temporarily halted transactions. Despite the developers’ assurances about the network’s security and their swift restoration of services, these recurring outages highlight persistent challenges in ensuring long-term stability.

As of January 16, 2025, Zilliqa’s native token, ZIL, is trading at around $0.0225, with a market capitalization of $435 million. However, the repeated outages and technical setbacks could impact investor confidence and the network’s future growth prospects if the issues are not fully addressed.