diff --git a/src/lib/config/simulator.ts b/src/lib/config/simulator.ts
index 12ade540..e97988cc 100644
--- a/src/lib/config/simulator.ts
+++ b/src/lib/config/simulator.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,14 @@ export type RunningPlatform = (typeof AVAILABLE_PLATFORMS)[number];
 export const STARTING_TIMEOUT_WAIT_CYLCE = 2000;
 export const STARTING_TIMEOUT_ATTEMPTS = 120;
 
+/**
+ * Deadline for the best-effort "is a newer CLI published?" check.
+ *
+ * `up` and `init` run this before anything else, so an unresponsive npm registry must not
+ * hold the command hostage. Kept short because the check only ever gates a console warning.
+ */
+export const CLI_VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS = 2000;
+
 export type AiProviders = "ollama" | "openai" | "heuristai" | "google" | "xai";
 export type AiProvidersEnvVars = "ollama" | "OPENAIKEY" | "HEURISTAIAPIKEY" | "GEMINI_API_KEY" | "XAI_API_KEY";
 export type AiProvidersConfigType = {
diff --git a/src/lib/services/simulator.ts b/src/lib/services/simulator.ts
index cc8b3450..c6552815 100644
--- a/src/lib/services/simulator.ts
+++ b/src/lib/services/simulator.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ import {
   VERSION_REQUIREMENTS,
   CONTAINERS_NAME_PREFIX,
   IMAGES_NAME_PREFIX,
-  GENLAYER_REQUIRED_CONTAINERS
+  GENLAYER_REQUIRED_CONTAINERS,
+  CLI_VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS
 } from "../config/simulator";
 import {
   checkCommand,
@@ -122,8 +123,34 @@ export class SimulatorService implements ISimulatorService {
     return this.profileOptions;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Prints a "a new version is available" notice.
+   *
+   * This is a cosmetic warning, but `up` and `init` await it as their first step, so any
+   * registry trouble used to abort or stall the whole command before Docker was consulted.
+   * `update-check` performs an unauthenticated request to the npm registry and rejects on an
+   * unreachable registry, a 5xx, a proxy login page served with 200, or a cache file left
+   * truncated by an interrupted run. It also leaves the request socket open on timeout, which
+   * keeps the event loop alive so the process hangs instead of exiting.
+   *
+   * Bound the call with a deadline and treat every failure as "no update information".
+   */
   public async checkCliVersion(): Promise<void> {
-    const update = await updateCheck(pkg);
+    let update: {latest: string; fromCache: boolean} | null = null;
+
+    try {
+      update = await Promise.race([
+        updateCheck(pkg),
+        new Promise<null>((resolve) =>
+          setTimeout(() => resolve(null), CLI_VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS).unref?.()
+        ),
+      ]);
+    } catch {
+      // The registry is unreachable, rate limiting us, or returned something we cannot parse.
+      // A missing upgrade notice must never block starting the localnet.
+      return;
+    }
+
     if (update && update.latest !== pkg.version) {
       console.warn(`\nA new version (${update.latest}) is available! You're using version ${pkg.version}.\nRun npm install -g genlayer to update\n`);
     }
diff --git a/tests/services/simulator.test.ts b/tests/services/simulator.test.ts
index 70e184a3..c8349894 100644
--- a/tests/services/simulator.test.ts
+++ b/tests/services/simulator.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import {describe, beforeEach, test, expect, vi, Mock} from "vitest";
+import {describe, beforeEach, afterEach, test, expect, vi, Mock} from "vitest";
 import * as path from "path";
 import * as fs from "fs";
 import * as dotenv from "dotenv";
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import {
   IMAGES_NAME_PREFIX,
   AiProviders,
   GENLAYER_REQUIRED_CONTAINERS,
+  CLI_VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS,
 } from "../../src/lib/config/simulator";
 import {rpcClient} from "../../src/lib/clients/jsonRpcClient";
 import * as semver from "semver";
@@ -607,6 +608,65 @@ describe("SimulatorService - Docker Tests", () => {
 
     consoleWarnSpy.mockRestore();
   });
+
+  // Regression coverage for #418: `up` and `init` await checkCliVersion() as their first step,
+  // so a registry problem must not abort or stall the command. Every case below is a real
+  // failure mode of update-check@1.5.4.
+  describe("registry failures never block startup (#418)", () => {
+    let consoleWarnSpy: ReturnType<typeof vi.spyOn>;
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      consoleWarnSpy = vi.spyOn(console, "warn").mockImplementation(() => {});
+    });
+
+    afterEach(() => {
+      consoleWarnSpy.mockRestore();
+    });
+
+    const rejections = [
+      ["registry unreachable or blackholed", new TypeError("Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'code')")],
+      ["registry returns 5xx", new Error("Request failed with code 500")],
+      ["proxy returns an HTML login page with 200", new SyntaxError("Unexpected token '<'")],
+      ["cache file left truncated by an interrupted run", new SyntaxError("Unexpected end of JSON input")],
+    ] as const;
+
+    it.each(rejections)("swallows the rejection when the %s", async (_label, error) => {
+      (updateCheck as any).mockRejectedValue(error);
+
+      await expect(simulatorService.checkCliVersion()).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+      expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it("resolves instead of hanging when the registry never responds", async () => {
+      vi.useFakeTimers();
+      try {
+        // Never settles: models a firewall that drops packets rather than refusing them.
+        (updateCheck as any).mockImplementation(() => new Promise(() => {}));
+
+        const pending = simulatorService.checkCliVersion();
+        const settled = vi.fn();
+        void pending.then(settled);
+
+        await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(CLI_VERSION_CHECK_TIMEOUT_MS);
+
+        await expect(pending).resolves.toBeUndefined();
+        expect(settled).toHaveBeenCalled();
+        expect(consoleWarnSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      } finally {
+        vi.useRealTimers();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("still warns when the check succeeds inside the deadline", async () => {
+      (updateCheck as any).mockResolvedValue({latest: "1.1.0"});
+
+      await simulatorService.checkCliVersion();
+
+      expect(consoleWarnSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        `\nA new version (1.1.0) is available! You're using version 1.0.0.\nRun npm install -g genlayer to update\n`,
+      );
+    });
+  });
 });
 
 describe("normalizeLocalnetVersion", () => {