Key Points
- Coinbase users reported $0 crypto balances as Bitcoin reached a 28-month high of $67,000.
- Coinbase experienced its second outage in less than a week, amidst a surge in platform activity.
Coinbase Outage Amid Bitcoin Rally
Coinbase users worldwide reported zero crypto balances as Bitcoin rallied to over $67,000, a first in more than two years.
In the midst of this peak, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase experienced its second outage in less than a week. The crypto fear and greed index was at 82, indicating a high level of interest from users and traders.
Increased Activity Triggers Outage
On February 28, during the first Coinbase outage of the year, CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the platform was equipped to manage ten times the usual traffic. However, the exchange encountered more usage than anticipated due to Bitcoin’s rally.
The recent outage suggests that heightened platform activity, due to Bitcoin’s 24-hour surge of up to 6%, triggered the downtime. Coinbase reassured users that their funds were secure and that engineers were working to restore normal operations.
Users expressed dissatisfaction as the outage disrupted regular activities and implied that the largest crypto exchange in America might be unprepared for heavy traffic during the bull cycle.
Social media posts indicated that customers were less concerned about seeing zero account balances and more worried about a major exchange temporarily collapsing due to increased transactions caused by market price increases.
The situation continues to develop.
