Cardano’s Testnet is “catastrophically broken” after “rushed” updates

According to Dean, Cardano has come dangerously close to “midnight” on the hypothetical nuclear clock.

Due to a bug in older versions of Cardano’s client software that was only recently discovered by the network developer community, the layer 1 blockchain test network is now incompatible and unable to support the latest client software.

🧵 (1/n) It’s important to point out today that the #Cardano #Testnet is **catastrophically** broken due to a bug in Cardano Node v 1.35.2. This was the version that we had previously been told was “Tested and Ready” for the Vasil Hardfork. This bug was only discovered…

– Adam Dean (@adamKDean) August 18, 2022

Adam Dean, an ecosystem developer and former Cardano stake pool operator, tweeted a warning late Thursday that the Cardano Testnet, which has been running for two years, has become incompatible with the current version of the blockchain’s client software. “It is important to report today that the Cardano Testnet is **catastrophically** broken due to a bug in Cardano Node v 1.35.2“, he stated.

Input Output, the development company behind Cardano, had reassured independent betting pool operators that Cardano Node version 1.34.2 had been extensively tested and was ready for deployment. However, after most operators rushed to upgrade to this version to simulate a Vasil hardfork combinatorial event, ATADA and PoolTool operators discovered a critical bug in the client software that led to the creation of incompatible forks.

After the bug was discovered, Cardano released new client software, Cardano Node 1.35.3, which is unable to synchronize with the original testnet and is currently running on two new testnets without any block history. Analyzing the situation on the Crypto Capital Venture channel today, Dean said the latest developments warrant extreme caution. “This is overly cautious at this point” he said, explaining that the two new test networks are “not yet complete end-to-end“, which means that no one in the community has been able to test them thoroughly.

Dean stated that the level of “precipitation“Input Output’s rush to deploy the Vasil upgrade gave him a sense of unease, indicating that the blockchain could have faced a catastrophe if the community hadn’t caught the bugs in time. “If there was a “nuclear clock” for Cardano, we came dangerously close to reaching “midnight.”“, he says writes.

(5/n) To say that this level of “rushing” gives me uneasy feelings is an understatement. If there were a “nuclear clock” for #Cardano we got perilously close to hitting “midnight”…

– Adam Dean (@adamKDean) August 18, 2022

The hardfork Vasil, nicknamed the ” the most important update ” from Cardano to date, was originally scheduled to go live on June 29. However, as the deadline approached, Input Output postponed the hardfork first to the last week of July, and then to ” a few more weeks ” to allow more time for testing.

Although the latest testnet breach has attracted community attention, Input Output has not commented on the issue and has not indicated whether the Vasil upgrade should be delayed again. Cardano’s ADA token fell from $0.54 to $0.46 after the incident was announced, marking a 13.3 percent drop on the day.