Critical bug in the testnet a cause for concern?

On Thursday evening, August 18, 2022, an insider sounded the alarm. Cardano’s current testnet is “catastrophically broken” due to a bug, tweeted Adam Dean, a prominent blockchain developer. “If Cardano had a nuclear clock, we would have just hit almost midnight.”

The terrible news spread rapidly on the internet. Crypto influencers process them on Youtube with panic-inducing headlines. Chaos erupts on Twitter. Allegations of negligence were briefly raised against Cardano boss Charles Hoskinson. He tries to appease – and reaps opposition from the community.

The glitch hits the network at a critical time. The top 10 blockchain is a few weeks away from a historic upgrade, Vasil. It should make Cardano faster by several thousand percent, finally suitable for the masses. Is it endangered now? And was Cardano negligent?

A found fodder for crypto influencers

The bug is found in an update for the testnet. Particularly spicy: Cardano boss Charles Hoskinson assures a few days in advance: The preparations for Vasil are running smoothly. The incident is becoming fodder for crypto influencers. On Youtube Panik they spread panic with sensational titles like: “The Cardano testnet disaster”, “How bad is it?”, “Will Cardano recover from this?”. ADA’s price plummets that day, nearly 15 percent.

The failure of a testnet is normal, the Cardano boss replies in an Ask Me Anything. “In this industry, testnets are constantly being built and destroyed. That’s her point. […] They in no way harm Cardano itself.” A testnet serves as a dry run for the actual network, in this case Vasil.

The next day the chaos becomes perfect. Charles Hoskinson is asking network operators to install a new update that has been “rigorously tested”. Adam Westberg, a Cardano pool operator, contradicts him: “Don’t do that. Charles Hoskinson is not up to date.” Further criticism of Hoskinson comes from a variety of sources on Twitter. The multiple accusation: he and his team rushed the update.

A sigh of relief will only come on Sunday, August 21, 2022. The bug will be fixed. The new version is now running without errors, according to Andrew Westberg on Twitter.

It is unclear when the long-awaited Vasil upgrade will come. It was planned for June 2022 and has already been postponed several times this year due to problems on the testnet. You can find the most important information about Vasil here.

Some Cardano fans are taking the short-lived Adapocalypse with gallows humor. On crypto-Twitter, they have recently greeted each other with a “catastrophically good morning” and are buying new tokens “catastrophically quickly”.