The Sui blockchain experienced a major outage lasting nearly six hours, completely interrupting transactions and freezing over one billion dollars of on-chain value. The incident, confirmed by the Sui Foundation, reignites the debate about the resilience of so-called “high-throughput” blockchains in a crypto context where technical reliability is becoming a key criterion.
In brief
- •The Sui crypto blockchain was halted for nearly six hours, blocking all transactions.
- •The Sui Foundation confirmed a consensus outage without specifying the exact cause.
- •The SUI token remained stable, with a brief increase after the network came back online.
A Sudden Outage That Stops the Network
On Wednesday, the Sui Foundation confirmed a consensus outage on the layer 1 blockchain. The immediate result was that no transaction could be validated anymore. The network, however, which is presented as one of the fastest in the crypto sector, became frozen.
The foundation stated it identified the problem around 14:52 UTC. The main developers were immediately mobilized. At 15:24 UTC, the message was clear: a fix is underway, but no precise timeline was communicated. This lack of visibility reminds us that even on modern infrastructures, incidents remain hard to anticipate.
The network was finally restored at 20:44 UTC. That is 5 hours and 52 minutes of almost total interruption. This duration is an eternity in the crypto world, where protocols are supposed to operate without pause.
Few Explanations, Many Questions
While Sui is now “fully operational,” one point intrigues: the exact cause of the outage was not detailed. The Foundation mentions a consensus issue without specifying whether it was a software bug, poor validator coordination, or a more complex scenario.
This minimal communication leaves doubt. Over one billion dollars were blocked on-chain at the time of the incident. For users and DeFi protocols, the total stoppage poses a trust problem. In crypto, technical transparency is almost as important as speed.
This silence contrasts with the practices of other ecosystems, which sometimes publish detailed post-mortems after such events.
A Precedent Weighing on Sui’s Image
This is not the first time Sui encounters such difficulty. In November 2024, the network already experienced a significant outage. This week’s outage thus becomes the second major downtime since the official launch of the blockchain in May 2023.
Comparison with Solana naturally arises. Solana was long criticized for its repeated interruptions. However, the network has not experienced a major global outage for over 18 months. Emergency updates and better validator coordination have clearly improved the situation.
For Sui, the challenge is similar: prove that these incidents remain exceptional and can be avoided in the future.
The Crypto Market Remains Surprisingly Calm
Notably, the market’s reaction remained measured. The SUI token briefly rose about 4% after the announcement of the network’s restoration before stabilizing around $1.84, according to CoinGecko.
This stability suggests investors did not panic. This could be because they consider the incident controlled, or because the crypto market has become accustomed to this type of technical turbulence.
One simple reality remains: in a sector where competition between blockchains is fierce, every outage leaves a mark. For Sui, the next challenge will be less technical than narrative: convincing that the promise of performance does not come at the expense of reliability.