The Sui blockchain experienced its second major outage of 2026 on May 28, rendering the network inaccessible for nearly six hours. The incident, triggered by a critical bug in the network’s 1.72 software update, also led to a sharp drop in the price of the SUI token, which became a top concern for investors during the downtime.
Technical breakdown and latest details
According to official statements, the outage stemmed from a bug in the 1.72 software version, with a specific flaw in gas fee calculation causing all mainnet transactions to come to a halt. The Sui development team took to social media to confirm the issue and clarified that the root of the problem was a breakdown in the logic governing gas fees.
The mainnet is currently experiencing a network halt. The Sui core team is actively working on a solution. In the meantime, transaction delays and temporary interruptions may occur. Updates will be shared as soon as possible.
Users were warned that transaction approvals might be suspended on a temporary basis. After approximately 5 hours and 55 minutes of intervention, the network was restored to working order. However, validator nodes displayed reduced performance for some time following the network’s relaunch.
Impact on SUI price
The unexpected outage quickly hit the SUI token. According to CoinGecko data, SUI’s price plunged 6.6%, touching $0.90. The token later rebounded slightly, regaining ground at around $0.93 in subsequent trading hours.
This decline followed a period of robust growth for SUI. Earlier in May, the price had surged by nearly 50%, reaching $1.41, fueled by notable token unlocks held by a Nasdaq-listed company and other positive developments.
Recently, the Sui team announced new features, including zero-fee stablecoin transactions and privacy-focused upgrades. At Consensus 2026, Mysten Labs’ Adeniyi Abiodun highlighted these plans as central to Sui’s ongoing roadmap.
| Period | Outage Duration | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| May 2026 | 5 hours 55 minutes | All transactions halted, SUI plunged |
| January 2026 | 6+ hours | Network remained offline |
| November 2024 | About 2.5 hours | Validator cycle crashed |
Recurring network issues
The latest incident signals a pattern of recurring disruptions on the network. Back in January 2026, Sui was down for nearly six hours. In November 2024, all validators ran into a cascading failure, causing the network to freeze for about two and a half hours. Over the past two years, the Sui blockchain has endured its third substantial outage.
Mini glossary: Validator refers to independent nodes that approve transactions and secure the blockchain. Without these nodes, new blocks cannot be created on the network.
Current state of the Sui ecosystem
Despite these service disruptions, Sui still holds a notable position within the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. According to DeFiLlama, Sui ranks 13th by total value, with $542 million locked across 137 different protocols.
Launched in May 2023, Sui was built to address the scaling and speed needs of financial institutions. The technical team plans to publish a detailed incident report about the recent outage in the coming days. Once the network was operational again, validator performance issues persisted for a short period before stabilizing.
