Dash Blockchain Hits a Roadblock: Hard Fork Failure Leads to Transaction Halt

The Dash blockchain, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency, encountered a significant setback after a failed hard fork caused the network to stop processing transactions early Monday morning, according to Samuel Westrich, the CTO of Dash Core Group. The glitch caused the blockchain to split into two parallel chains, leading to the suspension of operations.

Westrich took to Twitter to share the news, mentioning the failure during the v19 activation of Dash Core. Dash Core developer Pasta later announced that they had identified the issues and were focused on resolving them. In light of the complications, the release of the latest Dash Core client update, v19, might face delays.

Pasta also noted that any blocks and transactions on the Dash blockchain will not be considered finalized until an update is deployed. Exceptions to this are ChainLocked and InstantSend locked transactions, which are unique to Dash. A Discord user speculated the update delay could last until June 14th.

In response to the malfunction, leading crypto exchange Binance declared that it would pause the distribution of mining rewards from its Dash mining pool until the blockchain resumed block production. This decision followed the lack of updates from the developer’s team and Westrich not responding to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

Dash’s hard fork was intended to introduce new nodes to the network, which inadvertently led to the blockchain splitting. A Reddit user revealed the chain had bifurcated at the fork block, creating confusion about the “correct” chain.

The v19 update aimed to enhance the operation of nodes and wallets, introduce new Dash masternodes, and modify Dash anonymity features, among other changes. The network’s complications have currently placed Dash in a precarious situation, as it holds the 85th position in terms of market cap on CoinMarketCap.