Coinbase is one of the largest Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges. Today, Coinbase experienced a significant outage as Bitcoin’s value soared. Many users accounts were affected. The outage occurred during a surge in trading following Bitcoin’s price increase, which briefly exceeded $64,000.
Coinbase reportedly crashed.
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) February 28, 2024
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has attributed the outage a “large surge of traffic” The infrastructure of the exchange was overwhelmed. Coinbase’s servers were overwhelmed by the sudden influx in users trying to buy, trade, or sell Bitcoin. This caused connectivity problems for many customers.
“We are aware that some users may see a zero balance across their Coinbase accounts & may experience errors in buying or selling,” Coinbase stated. “Our team is investigating this & will provide an update shortly. Your assets are safe.”
We are experiencing a LARGE increase in traffic. Please excuse any problems you may encounter. The team is currently working on a solution.
— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) February 28, 2024
Bitcoins’ price plummeted from $64,000 (about $64,500) to $59.500 (about $59,000), wiping out the majority of gains Bitcoins had made in the past day. Coinbase has suffered similar outages before during periods of extreme market volatility. This led to criticism from both users and industry observers.
Despite the temporary disruption, Bitcoin’s price appears to have remained resilient, as it is now back above $60,700 at the time of writing, continuing its upward trajectory amid growing institutional adoption and investor interest.
Coinbase’s efforts to restore normal operations serve as a reminder that managing Bitcoin exchanges at large scales can be challenging and that a robust infrastructure is essential to provide users with uninterrupted service.
“This article is not financial advice.”
“Always do your own research before making any type of investment.”
Source: bitcoinmagazine.com