Starknet Faces Brief Mainnet Outage, Prompting 18-Minute Rollback
- Starknet experienced a mainnet outage causing an 18-minute activity rollback.
- Incident caused by state inconsistency between execution and proving layers.
- Second major disruption for Starknet since 2025.
On January 5, 2026, Ethereum’s Layer 2 network Starknet encountered a brief mainnet disruption, leading to an 18-minute chain rollback due to state inconsistency between execution and proving layers.
The incident underscores potential technical vulnerabilities in Layer 2 solutions, emphasizing the importance of robust system integrity, while leaving market prices and reactions largely unchanged among observed cryptocurrency assets.
Starknet, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, experienced a mainnet outage on January 5, 2026, resulting in an 18-minute activity rollback.
The incident highlights the critical structural issues within Layer 2 networks, affecting blockchain reliability and transaction integrity.
State Discrepancy Causes Starknet Mainnet Outage
Starknet, managed by StarkWare, faced a mainnet outage, halting block production. The team is enhancing architecture and monitoring after the incident, which required an 18-minute rollback.
The outage occurred due to a state discrepancy between the execution and proving layers. Starknet’s engineering team promptly addressed the issue, explaining the potential for cross-function call errors.
Rollbacks Stir Concerns Over Starknet’s Reliability
The outage led to an impact on Starknet applications and tokens, and a disruption in L2 activities. The incident underlines the necessity for robust technical frameworks within blockchain solutions.
Although the Ethereum L1 state remained unaffected, the rollbacks prompted concerns over Starknet’s reliability, influencing ongoing discussions.
Recurring Issues Highlight Need for Improvement
The January incident follows a notable disruption in September 2025. Both events underline recurring issues within Starknet’s systems, emphasizing the need for continued architectural improvements.
Experts predict that enhanced preventive measures might bolster network resilience. Starknet’s transparency through formal reports suggests a proactive approach to incident response.
The January 5 mainnet outage was caused by a state inconsistency between the blockifier execution layer and the proving layer, which under certain rollback patterns led to incorrect state writes and necessitated an approximately 18‑minute chain rollback.” – Starknet Team, Core Developers, Starknet
| Disclaimer: The information on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency markets are volatile, and investing involves risk. Always do your own research and consult a financial advisor. |
