On the morning of May 21, the Dash blockchain experienced a stall during the activation of its Dash Core v19 hard fork, according to a tweet by Samuel Westrich, the chief technical officer. Approximately 13 hours later, developers introduced a v19.1.0 fix to address the issue.
During the blockchain downtime, Dash developers cautioned users, stating that blocks and transactions on the network lacking ChainLocks and InstantSend locks should not be assumed to have achieved true finality. These security features, unique to Dash, play a crucial role in ensuring the integrity of the network.
While the blockchain was not operational, Binance temporarily halted the distribution of Dash mining rewards.
The April 10 update aimed to enhance security through the implementation of BLS signatures and the introduction of high-performance master node implementation and wallet improvements. These changes were made in preparation for the forthcoming release of the Dash Platform on the main net.
According to the description of the v19.1.0 release, that upgrade will fix bugs, while the v19.0.0 release is delayed until June 14. The developers said:
“This release should resolve the chain stall once a sufficient number of masternodes and miners have upgraded. Please be aware of the known issues listed in the release announcement. A reindex may be needed.”
At the time of writing, a Dash blockchain explorer showed that the last Dash block was processed about 16 hours ago.
The implementation of Dash’s v18 update took place approximately on September 13, 2022. However, in January, due to an attempted hack that caused certain master nodes to go offline, an upgrade was carried out. The chain experienced a halt as a result of the release and subsequent withdrawal of Dash Core v18.2.0.
Dash Core serves as the underlying network for Dash (DASH), a privacy-focused cryptocurrency. It emerged as a separate entity from Litecoin (LTC) in 2014. In April, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged in its complaint against Bittrex that Dash was considered a security.
