TON Network Restores Operations After Major Disruption

The Open Network (TON) recently announced the successful restoration of its blockchain operations after an unexpected halt in block production caused by significant network congestion. The incident, which occurred on August 27, was primarily attributed to the distribution of the meme coin Dogs (DOGS), which overwhelmed the network, leading to a temporary disruption that lasted several hours.

TON, a blockchain platform that has significantly enhanced the Web3 ecosystem on Telegram, has experienced substantial growth in recent months. This growth has been driven by various factors, including the increasing popularity of tap-to-earn games and in-app developments that have bolstered both the network and its native cryptocurrency, Toncoin (TON). However, the recent introduction of the DOGS token led to an unexpected spike in network activity, culminating in the temporary halt of block production.

The outage had widespread implications, with major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Bybit reporting issues related to the DOGS token on the TON network. The surge in network activity reached a critical point on August 27, leading to the cessation of block production on The Open Network.

TON’s update revealed that the network had experienced an “abnormal load” that affected numerous validators. The excessive load prevented several validators from cleaning the database of old transactions, resulting in a loss of consensus across the network. As a result, block production was paused, and TON Core issued a call to validators, urging them to consider a potential network restart around 4 AM UTC on Wednesday.

The latest updates from TON indicate that consensus has been reestablished, and the network is now functioning normally. Despite the restoration of normal operations, the outage had significant repercussions, particularly for Toncoin (TON), which experienced notable volatility during the incident.

The outage coincided with a series of negative developments, including the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France. This news contributed to a sharp decline in Toncoin’s value, with the token dropping more than 20% to reach lows of $5.30 on August 25. Prior to the downturn, Toncoin had been trading above $6.80 a day earlier and had reached over $7.15 in mid-August.

Following Durov’s arrest, French prosecutors formally charged the Telegram founder, further exacerbating the downward pressure on Toncoin. The token continued to slide, briefly falling below $5.09 before recovering slightly to $5.60 as Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market experienced a brief rally.

However, Toncoin’s price dipped once again as Bitcoin retraced to near $58,000, a movement that pushed TON back down to around $5