The Open Network (TON) faced yet another setback this week, with its second major outage within 36 hours, which temporarily disrupted blockchain functionality.

During this period, the TON network has endured over 12 hours of outages in total.

TON Network Buckles Under Pressure

The network went offline at 7:17 pm UTC on August 28, and after a coordinated effort by TON developers, who urged mainnet validators to update and restart their nodes, it was restored by 1:30 am UTC on August 29.

The recent outages, including one on the previous day lasting over six hours, were primarily caused by an abnormal surge in transactions linked to the DOGS meme coin airdrop. The event, which saw six million verified users request tokens, significantly overloaded the network, causing validators to lose consensus.

Subsequently, the official DOGS channel Telegram channel addressed the issue, saying:

We know that some of you are still waiting for your on-chain withdrawal. Rest assured, all of the teams are working really hard to make it happen. The blockchain is experiencing an unprecedented load right now, but everyone is doing their best to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

DOGS, a Telegram-based meme coin, has generated considerable interest within the crypto community due to its planned utility expansion within the Telegram ecosystem. Inspired by Spotty, the pet dog of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, it was introduced in July 2024 and launched on August 27.

The TON ecosystem, in general, has been facing uncertainty in the wake of Durovs arrest over the weekend. The TON token has declined by nearly 15% over the past seven days and is currently trading at $5.6.

Update on Durovs Arrest

On August 28, French authorities filed preliminary charges against the exec for allegedly allowing criminal activities on his messaging app and have restricted him from leaving the country while the investigation continues.

The arrest in France sparked outrage in Russia, with some government officials labeling it as politically motivated and accusing the West of double standards on freedom of speech.

French President Emmanuel Macron, however, stated on Monday that the arrest was not politically motivated but rather a result of an independent investigation. In a post on X, Macron emphasized that France is deeply committed to freedom of expression but added that they are maintained within a legal framework, both online and offline, to safeguard citizens and uphold their fundamental rights. His statement was severely criticized by free-speech advocates.