Did Centralization Cause the Base Blockchain Outage?
While one network (Base) faced an outage, another (Ethereum) had a layer 2 leader grappling with the idea of an “Ethereum Supreme Court.”
Sep 8, 2023
Listen or watch all the new CoinDesk podcast episodes wherever you want.
ABOUT
On “Carpe Consensus,” host Danny Nelson is joined by CoinDesk tech reporter Sam Kessler to dive into the latest blockchain news.
- [0:53] Coinbase’s Ethereum layer 2 blockchain Base experienced its first major outage since its launch, halting the production of new blocks for about 45 minutes. Sam explains what caused the outage and other vulnerabilities he’s watching.
- [13:16] In crypto, the phrase “code is law” seems to assert that technology can thwart centralized individuals. But a proposal for an “Ethereum Supreme Court” gets Danny and Sam thinking – are blockchains already just social contracts, not straight code as we’ve been led to believe?
“Carpe Consensus” is executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced and edited by Eleanor Pahl.
HOSTS
Dan Ilett
Dan Ilett writes on tech, money and energy. He advises business on digital strategy and technology messaging for large deals. He is founder of Erbut - an advisory company - and Greenbang - a smart technology research company.
Danny Nelson
Danny was CoinDesk's managing editor for Data & Tokens. He formerly ran investigations for the Tufts Daily. At CoinDesk, his beats include (but are not limited to): federal policy, regulation, securities law, exchanges, the Solana ecosystem, smart money doing dumb things, dumb money doing smart things and tungsten cubes. He owns BTC, ETH and SOL tokens, as well as the LinksDAO NFT.
Danny Bradbury
Danny Bradbury has been a professional writer since 1989, and has worked freelance since 1994. He covers technology for publications such as the Guardian.
EPISODES
DeFi Isn't a Defense for Insider Trading
A DeFi project steps precariously close to insider trading.
Dec 21, 2023
A Year of Politicization and the Looming Bull
A crypto winter of growth and optimism: from those who developed the tech to those who led the fight for sensible reg...
Dec 7, 2023
Can You Put a Price on Decentralized Governance? Polygon and DraftKings Did
Danny Nelson describes his recent scoop where he learned that Polygon quietly gave DraftKings preferential treatment ...
Nov 30, 2023
Riding the Bull and Bear in El Salvador
Jonathan Martin traveled across El Salvador, observing bitcoin adoption in the first country to make BTC legal curren...
Nov 16, 2023
COINDESK SERIES
0 EPISODE
The Policy Protocol
The Policy Protocol is CoinDesk's regulation and policy show. This is your direct line to the crypto legislative engine, where we pull back the curtain on crypto in Washington, D.C. and beyond.
Apr 9, 2026
5 EPISODES
Public Keys at NYSE
Public Keys is a weekly show filmed at the New York Stock Exchange that explores the intersection of traditional finance, macroeconomics and digital assets. Hosted by CoinDesk Senior Anchor, Jennifer Sanasie, the program delivers a deep dive into how crypto is increasingly shaping – and being shaped by – the public markets.
Mar 16, 2026
0 EPISODE
The Mining Pod
Feb 10, 2025
1468 EPISODES
CoinDesk Podcast Network
The top stories and best shows in the blockchain world, delivered daily from the team at CoinDesk.
Dec 20, 2023
