Problems are normal: they have existed, exist and will exist. The main thing is to learn to cope with them, while overcoming pain, doubt, fatigue, and criticism. Companies and people learn through such moments. They learn to be flexible, find new paths, draw conclusions from defeats. And here’s the question: how do they do it? What enables them to continue when it seems that everything is lost? Let’s figure it out.
Solana was down more often than it was up
Solana is a blockchain that promised to be fast, cheap, and reliable. But its path has not been so smooth.
One of the first major failures occurred in September 2021: the network was “down” for almost a day. Bots spammed the network with transactions during the token sale, validators failed, and consensus disappeared.
The problems did not end there. A year passed, and Solana failed again. This time, the “pause” was taken for as long as two days. The reason was the same: a sudden flurry of transactions overloaded the system.
And then the failures became almost regular. Errors in block processing, problems with updates, incompatibility between nodes, hacker attacks, exploits.
It was accompanied by rumors. Apparently, all this was not just technical problems. It was said that when the token soared from $9 to $160, large investors who had exited earlier began to panic, afraid of missing out on profits. In order to reduce the excitement and wait for the “right moment”, the network was allegedly stopped on purpose. The panic brought the price down, and then the same investors entered again at a favorable price. Whether this was true or not — no one knows.
Nevertheless, frequent failures did not undermine Solana’s reputation. On the contrary, the platform became even more popular. Today, Solana continues to gain momentum. Many call it one of the most promising networks, despite all the “falls”.
TON which nobody needed
TON is a blockchain that Pavel Durov conceived back in 2018, dreaming of creating a universal decentralized platform like WeChat. Faced with stiff resistance from the regulator, Pavel Durov officially announced his departure from the project.
It seemed that this was the end of the TON story. But the technologies and ideas that were the basis of the network turned out to be too good. The project was picked up by an independent team of developers, turning TON into a blockchain that now amazes with its speed, scalability and integration with Telegram.
However, even with a strong technical base, TON was not all smooth sailing. The network has faced difficulties more than once. The last problem was observed in August 2024, when the blockchain of The Open Network (TON) unexpectedly got “overloaded”. The reason for this was the mass distribution of the new memecoin DOGS, which provoked an avalanche of transactions.
To pull the network out of this tailspin, the TON team advised validators to restart nodes using necessary parameters. This worked, and the network’s operation got back to normal. The developers immediately announced plans to update the system so that it could cope with sudden surges in activity in the future.
And the developers of the TON Foundation also said that Coinmarketcap suddenly dropped the price of Toncoin by 98%. While the problem was being solved, this failure still affected a couple of crypto services that pulled data from Coinmarketcap. For example, the Fragment platform conducted transactions for a few minutes at a price of only $0.3, which is 20 times lower than the fair price.
Holiverse: a metaverse that managed
In Holiverse the technology becomes a part of life, helping not only to play and earn money, but also to take care of yourself.
One of the most impressive achievements of Lado Okhotnikov, the CEO of Holiverse, was in the personal medicine area. The metaverse is working on creating a digital twin of a person in virtual reality to offer a new approach to the prevention and treatment of diseases. Each user will be able to get a personalized approach to their health.
However, even the most advanced technologies are not immune to errors. Holiverse faced unexpected difficulties that led to the stop of the platform for several weeks. This was a blow to the community, especially against the backdrop of growing expectations for the new functionality.
Users who saw Holiverse not only as entertainment but also as a tool for improving their quality of life found themselves in a tense situation. Chat discussions, rumors, and discontent began to increase.
The company explained that the failures were caused by internal processes — checking security systems and adapting new developments. Holiverse has set itself the goal of creating a reliable ecosystem where users can trust the system not only with their finances, but also with their health data.
Considering the importance of openness, the Holiverse team made a statement assuring participants that work is being carried out around the clock.
And temporary failures are just a stage on the way to creating a platform that can unite all parts of digital and real life as a whole.
Ethereum killer Avalanche
Avalanche was predicted to be a great success due to the speed of transactions and their cost. But at the beginning of the year, the company faced problems. The number of transactions increased sharply, and the network began to collapse. Delays in processing, frozen transactions revealed problems with the scalability that was bet on.
There were loud statements about thousands of transactions per second until reality hit and the network simply could not withstand the load. Users, tired of long waits, began to express dissatisfaction.
Another thing that complicated the platform’s performance was its structure. It was not so easy to figure out the transfer of tokens between chains, especially in comparison with competitors like BNB Chain.
Amid the technical problems, there were accusations that Avalanche had failed to build a strong ecosystem. Some developers preferred more stable alternatives.
But despite all the difficulties, the platform has revived. In December, Avalanche raised $250 million through a closed token sale. This showed that investors still believe in the platform’s potential.
Being a startup founder is a daily balancing act between chaos and creativity. You come up with a new approach to an old problem, convince the world that your idea will change everything, and rush forward at full speed. In the world of startups, the winner is not the one who moves cautiously, but the one who manages to learn faster than everyone else, including from their own mistakes.
