The major Bitcoin wallet and blockchain explorer website Blockchain.info (Blockchain Luxembourg S.A.) went “offline” for a unknown amount of time today when a Domain Name Service (DNS) issue made it impossible to visit the site. The problem has been fixed, but some users may still be having trouble visiting http://blockchain.info until the fix propagates.

Some users may be unable to access https://t.co/CGXWHZCyxD due to a DNS issue that has been fixed, but still needs time to propagate.

— Blockchain (@blockchain) August 22, 2016

The problem was noted by Twitter users when it first started and a few Redditors also began to complain (and are still complaining as it may take time for the fix to spread, see below).

https://twitter.com/blockchain/status/767829047069937664

Blockchain.info is one of the first Bitcoin wallets and blockchain explorers, it was launched in 2011, and now boasts over 8 million registered wallets.

A DNS outage only affects the ability to access a site externally, not the site itself. Although users were unable to visit Blockchain.info (using the domain name) the site continued to run as normal without interruption. No bitcoin balances or wallets on the site were affected.

So far, it appears that not only the website was affected: the API and mobile applications could also be blocked from accessing the system if “blockchain.info” is used by the developer. For example, when this reporter attempted to use the Blockchain.info Android app, it could not authenticate, instead replying with “Unknown error” each time the PIN was entered.

While most users will find that access to Blockchain.info has been restored already, others may still be unable to visit the site (or use their applications). It can take up to 48 hours for a DNS record to fully propagate–however, some users may need to reboot their devices or clear their DNS cache to get it to work properly sooner.

photo credit: road blocks via photopin (license)