Starknet Roars Back: Block Production Resumes After Grinta Upgrade Sparks Major Outage

Starknet's network just faced its biggest stress test yet—and lived to tell the tale.

The layer-2 scaling solution resumed block production following a significant outage triggered by the highly anticipated Grinta upgrade. Validators scrambled, nodes resynced, and the chain went silent for hours.

Behind the Chaos

Upgrades in crypto aren't for the faint of heart. Grinta promised enhanced throughput and lower fees—classic selling points in the scaling race. But when you’re moving fast, sometimes you break things. Starknet’s validators hit an unexpected consensus deadlock post-upgrade, freezing the chain entirely.

No new blocks. No transactions. Just… waiting.

The Comeback

Engineers rolled back the upgrade, deployed a hotfix, and gradually brought validators back online. The restart wasn’t instant—it required coordinated manual intervention across dozens of node operators. A stark reminder that decentralization still relies on centralized crisis response.

Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Outages like these aren’t just technical hiccups—they’re reputation tests. Investors hate uncertainty, and nothing screams 'risk' like a blockchain that stops blocking. But here’s the twist: Starknet recovered faster than most tradFi settlement systems during a glitch. Take that, Wall Street.

Of course, in crypto, we call this 'Tuesday'.

Another day, another upgrade, another brief moment of panic—followed by the relentless march forward. Grinta might have stumbled, but Starknet’s back. And the network? Stronger for it. Probably.

Grinta update

The outage came less than 24 hours after Starknet deployed its “Grinta” upgrade, a release framed as a step toward decentralization and improved usability.

The upgrade (v0.14.0) introduced a three-node Tendermint consensus system to replace the single sequencer. While StarkWare still operates the new system, it is designed to evolve into a decentralized model soon.

The release also launched pre-confirmations, which assign a provisional status to transactions within half a second, creating near-instant feedback for users.

Starknet stated that the update makes block production run seven times faster than before, with additional speed improvements planned.

Grinta also brought a redesigned fee market inspired by Ethereum’s EIP-1559.

Under the new model, fees include base rates and optional tips across three categories, L1 gas, L2 gas, and L1 data gas. This structure is intended to balance network costs while keeping fees affordable, typically under three gFRI per L2 gas.