Binance halts Bitcoin withdrawal twice in under 12 hours before resuming service
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange paused Bitcoin withdrawals on the platform for a second time in under 12 hours on Monday. The company cited congestion on the blockchain due to the high volume of pending transactions as the reason for hitting the pause button.
“Our team is currently working on a fix and will reopen (Bitcoin) withdrawals as soon as possible,” the company tweeted.
“There is a large volume of withdrawal transactions from Binance still pending as our set fees did not anticipate the recent surge in (bitcoin) network gas fees,” it added.
After the two halts, the cryptocurrency exchange managed to steady the operation and resumed withdrawals, albeit with a slight tweak.
“To prevent a similar recurrence in the future, our fees have been adjusted. We will continue to monitor on-chain activity and adjust accordingly if needed,” it said.
According to data made available by CrpytoQuant, the congestion happened as the platform saw its highest-ever net daily withdrawal of Bitcoin – a net 175,646 tokens on May 7.
Notably, this is not the first instance when Binance has faced such a situation. In March 2023, after Bitcoin plunged about one per cent to $28,191, its lowest in nearly a week, Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals citing tech issues.
Moreover, in December last year, Binance recorded $1.9 billion in withdrawals during a 24-hour period between December 12 and December 13.
ALSO READ | Binance braces for ‘challenging period’ after record $1.9bn outflows
Tough times ahead: Binance CEO
At the time, Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao warned the employees to expect tough months ahead. After FTX went bankrupt last year and Binance pitched in to resuscitate its rival, both the users as well as the regulators are closely monitoring the operational methods of cryptocurrency exchanges.
Wary of the scrutiny, Changpeng had called for regulations in the industry to ensure better security for the investors.
“We’re in a new industry, we’ve seen in the past week, things go crazy in the industry. We do need some regulations, we do need to do this properly, we do need to do this in a stable way,” Zhao said at the time, addressing the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali.
“I think the industry collectively has a role to protect consumers, to protect everybody. So it’s not just regulators. Regulators have a role but it’s not 100 per cent their responsibility,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
