The Arweave network, a foundational protocol for permanent data storage, was at the center of conflicting reports regarding a major network halt. Initial data from the Arweave Explorer indicated that block production had been completely suspended for over 24 hours, with the last confirmed block (#1,851,686) mined at approximately 3:18 a.m. UTC on February 6, 2025. This sparked widespread concern about a critical consensus failure in the "permaweb" network.
However, the Arweave development team has since dismissed these reports as false. According to a clarification posted on X by a team member, the issue stemmed from outdated data displayed by certain blockchain explorers, particularly ViewBlock. The explorer was reportedly pulling from a local cache instead of the actual network block height, creating the illusion of a stoppage. The team confirmed that "Arweave has been producing blocks continuously / all transactions are processing normally."
Independent verification from Arscan shows block production continued nonstop, with new blocks being produced on February 7. The team is in contact with ViewBlock to resolve the data display issue. This clarification aims to counter the "widespread rumors and FUD" that spread rapidly online, exacerbated by initial media reports of a critical outage.
Amidst the confusion, ecosystem advocate Taylor Lamprecht highlighted the network's strong performance over the past year, including processing over two billion messages, reducing state lookups from 10 seconds to 100 milliseconds, and supporting high-frequency on-chain order books. Upcoming developments teased include the evolution of Hyperbeam and new tools like the Bazaar Portal Beta.
Despite the clarification, Arweave's native token, AR, was down 6.51% over 24 hours and 18% on the week at the time of reporting. While some negative price action may be linked to the outage rumors, broader market headwinds were also cited as a contributing factor.
