Why Did TON Network Face Block Interruptions?
In August, the TON network faced significant turbulence, compounded by Telegram’s founder being detained in France and two major block interruptions that raised serious concerns. These events have not only dampened the enthusiasm surrounding the TON ecosystem but also limited its future narrative space.
While market attention has primarily focused on the founder’s arrest, the technical failures are the more pressing issues impacting TON’s future development.
Immediate Cause: Surge in DOGS Transactions
The immediate cause of the TON network interruptions was the sudden surge in DOGS transactions. DOGS, a meme coin with a total supply of 550 billion and a 72.73% airdrop allocation, recently gained significant traction. The coin’s listing on major platforms like Binance led to a massive spike in on-chain transactions, overwhelming the network.
As a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain, TON relies on its validator nodes to process and confirm transactions, which are then bundled into blocks. Under normal conditions, the network generates new blocks at set intervals.
However, if the system cannot handle all pending transactions promptly, block production can be delayed or even halted. This kind of transaction overload is not unique to TON; other major blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum have experienced similar issues.
The surge in DOGS transactions likely caused validator overload, slowing down or halting block production.
TON Foundation attributed the interruptions to DOGS transaction overload, which led to validators being overloaded and losing consensus due to prolonged garbage collection. Despite TON’s successful Guinness World Record for TPS at over 104,715 in November, this explanation seems inadequate in the face of recent problems.
Underlying Issues: Design Limitations and Validator Problems
Transaction overload is merely a symptom of deeper issues within the TON network’s design and validator system. Analyzing TON’s technical architecture, sharding mechanism, and validator organization reveals several critical points:
1. Complexity of Shard Chain Architecture: Challenges of High Scalability
TON’s architecture is designed for high scalability and performance, with a multi-layer structure comprising a main chain, work chains, and shard chains. This design theoretically enhances network capacity by distributing the load. However, this complex sharding structure presents several challenges.
Each work chain can be further divided into multiple shard chains, each responsible for different account transactions. This design allows for parallel transaction processing across shard chains, increasing overall TPS. Yet, during transaction surges, uneven load distribution or delays in processing transactions can slow down or halt block production on some shard chains.
Since shard chains must stay in sync with the main chain, issues in key shard chains can impact the entire network’s block production. While TON’s sharding method is innovative, allowing for extreme granularity (each shard managing only a few accounts or contracts), this increases coordination complexity.
Effective sharding requires highly efficient and stable coordination between shard chains and the main chain. Bottlenecks in shard chains under extreme conditions can disrupt the entire network’s block production.
2. Insufficient Number of Validators: Centralization Risks
Another significant issue is the insufficient number of validators in the TON network. Compared to other PoS blockchains, TON has notably fewer validators, with only 360 compared to Ethereum’s over 1 million and Solana’s much higher count. This discrepancy affects TON’s decentralization and network security.
Validators in PoS networks validate transactions, achieve consensus, and bundle transactions into blocks. The number of validators influences the network’s decentralization and its ability to handle high loads. With fewer validators, each must handle more transactions, which can lead to delays or interruptions during high transaction volumes.
Moreover, TON’s high hardware and network requirements, coupled with the need to stake a large amount of Toncoin to become a validator, limit the number of participants. This constraint not only impacts decentralization but also exacerbates block delays during peak transaction periods.
3. Limitations of Consensus Mechanism: Challenges of Byzantine Fault Tolerance
TON uses a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus mechanism known as the Catchain protocol. This protocol is designed to maintain network operation even with malicious nodes present.
However, with a limited number of validators and some unable to participate in consensus due to overload, the protocol’s efficiency can be compromised. The Catchain protocol requires that no more than one-third of the participating validators be malicious for consensus and block generation to occur.
When validators are overloaded, multiple may fail to respond, slowing down or halting the consensus process and causing block production delays. Despite its design for resilience, the effectiveness of the Catchain protocol depends on validator count and distribution.
When the number of validators is low and network load exceeds expectations, the protocol’s efficiency declines, leading to slower or halted block production.
Centralization and Design Flaws Hinder TON’s Progress
TON faces ongoing challenges, including Telegram’s founder’s arrest, which casts uncertainty on TON’s future and its collaboration with Telegram. Originally seen as a potential powerhouse for the TON ecosystem, this event has cast a shadow over their future partnership.
Moreover, the recent block interruptions, caused by a surge in DOGS transactions, reveal deeper issues within the TON network. The complexity of its sharding architecture, insufficient validator numbers, and limitations of its consensus mechanism highlight significant technical bottlenecks. These problems affect the network’s current stability and pose potential risks to its long-term development.
To address these issues, TON needs to expand its validator base, reduce entry barriers for validators, enhance sharding efficiency, and optimize the Catchain protocol to handle high loads more effectively. While TON has faced significant crises since its inception and successfully navigated early challenges, overcoming these current difficulties will be crucial for building a stronger and more resilient ecosystem for the future.