The Base blockchain experienced a major outage on Thursday after an issue described as an “unsafe head stall” disrupted block production around 16:03 UTC, leading to transaction delays and interrupted deposits and withdrawals.
According to the network’s status page, a faulty block interfered with the creation of new blocks, preventing the system from maintaining normal sequencing. The Base team said at 16:52 UTC that recovery efforts were underway, with further updates expected as work continued.
base blockchain disruption stalls block production
The outage highlighted vulnerabilities in the sequencing process that underpins the Base network’s ability to process transactions efficiently. During the disruption, users faced delays and uncertainty as deposits and withdrawals were intermittently affected.
network remains active but unstable
Block generation was not entirely halted, but performance remained inconsistent during the incident. The disruption occurred shortly before a scheduled system upgrade known as the Beryl update, set for 18:00 UTC. Early indications suggested the outage was unrelated to the planned upgrade.
Base, backed by Coinbase, is among the most active Ethereum layer-2 networks, regularly handling higher transaction volumes than other rollup-based platforms built on Ethereum.
Coinbase had not responded to requests for comment on the cause of the outage or the expected timeline for a full recovery at the time of reporting.
what caused the disruption
The issue, identified as an “unsafe head stall,” points to a failure in the sequencer, which is responsible for ordering transactions on the network. When the sequencer fails to reliably produce new blocks, transactions cannot be processed in sequence, causing delays across the system.
large network impact draws attention
The disruption drew attention due to Base’s scale and activity. As of early 2026, the network accounted for more than 46% of total value locked across Ethereum layer-2 platforms. It has also recorded hundreds of thousands of daily active addresses, with figures from March 2026 showing around 4.2 million daily active users at its peak.
beryl upgrade approaches amid outage
The incident came just hours before the rollout of the Beryl upgrade, a significant update to the network’s architecture. The upgrade introduces a B20 token standard integrated into node software, designed to reduce transaction costs and support compliance features for tokenized assets.
Beryl also reduces the withdrawal period from Base to the Ethereum mainnet from seven days to five, while deploying Reth V2, an updated execution client expected to cut node storage requirements by roughly half and increase throughput by about one-third.
guidance during recovery period
Traders interacting with the network are advised to check the official status page to confirm stable block production before initiating time-sensitive transactions. Continued monitoring of network performance and a forthcoming detailed incident report are expected to provide further clarity on the root cause and long-term impact.
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