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Aurora mainnet may have stopped operating after July 20 disruption

Aurora mainnet may have stopped operating after July 20 disruption

The EVM-compatible network on NEAR was reported to have access issues from around 2:16 a.m. JST on July 20, with no disclosed cause or recovery timeline despite indications developers would explain the problem.

NEAR

Fact Check
The claim is corroborated by multiple independent news outlets (Odaily, PANews, CoinCu, Phemex/TechFlowPost), all consistently reporting Aurora mainnet down since 02:16(:11) UTC on 2026-07-20 with no confirmed cause or recovery timeline. However, all reports trace to a single originating source: the Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens) X post. No official confirmation from Aurora itself was found within the searched window, so the underlying event rests on one on-chain monitoring account. The consistency of the specific timestamp (02:16:11 UTC) across sources and the explicit note that cause/scope/timeline are unconfirmed closely match the claim, supporting a likely-true assessment with medium confidence pending official confirmation.
Summary

Aurora, an EVM-compatible network on the NEAR Protocol, was reported to be experiencing mainnet access issues from around 2:16 a.m. JST on July 20 and may have stopped operating, with the cause of the disruption and any recovery timeline still undisclosed. This updates earlier indications that normal block production had resumed and newer reporting that developers were expected to explain the issue, though the available material only confirms access problems. Aurora raised $12 million in 2021 from investors including Pantera Capital and Dragonfly Capital, but its total value locked has fallen more than 99% from roughly $2.5 billion in 2022 to about $4.65 million, limiting broader market-risk implications while underscoring the network’s reduced scale.

Terms & Concepts
  • EVM-compatible: Able to run applications and smart contracts designed for Ethereum’s virtual machine.
  • mainnet: A blockchain’s live production network.
  • total value locked: A measure of the assets deposited in decentralized finance applications on a blockchain or protocol.