The Starknet mainnet experienced a significant network disruption on January 5, 2026, temporarily halting block production and prompting an urgent technical response from the development team.
According to updates published on the Starknet Status Page and the project’s official communication channels, engineers identified a core technical discrepancy and began implementing corrective measures to restore network stability.
Block Production Halted After Technical Discrepancy Detected
The incident was first acknowledged at approximately 09:53 UTC, with the network remaining unable to produce new blocks for more than two hours.
Starknet is currently experiencing downtime. Our team is actively investigating the issue and working to restore full functionality as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
— Starknet (BTCFi arc) 🥷 (@Starknet) January 5, 2026
The project classified the situation as “Investigating / Identified,” confirming that the root issue stemmed from a mismatch between block execution and the proving logic used by the network.
Developers stated that this inconsistency disrupted consensus, forcing validators to stop processing blocks while the issue was assessed.
Chain Reversion Planned Using Updated Blockifier Version
To address the disruption, the Starknet engineering team released a new version of the “blockifier”, a core component responsible for transaction execution. As part of the recovery process, the network initiated a chain reversion to block 5,187,263, a move intended to realign execution and proving states before resuming normal operations.
The team noted that further validation would be required before full service restoration is confirmed.
STRK Price Holds Steady Despite Network Outage
Despite the extended downtime, the network’s native token, STRK, showed limited market reaction. During the outage window, STRK traded around $0.08, reflecting relative stability amid the technical disruption.
Market participants appeared cautious but restrained, likely awaiting confirmation of a successful fix and a detailed post-mortem.
Reliability in Focus Ahead of Major Token Unlock
This incident marks the second major Starknet disruption in approximately four months, following a nine-hour outage in September 2025 that occurred after the “Grinta” upgrade. The repeated interruptions have renewed scrutiny around network reliability as Starknet continues to scale.
The timing is notable, as the protocol is also approaching a scheduled unlock of 127 million STRK tokens, roughly 5% of total supply, on January 15, 2026, a development that could heighten market sensitivity to operational stability.
Starknet users and validators have been advised to continue monitoring the official Status Page for confirmation of full service restoration and the release of a comprehensive post-incident report.
