Update: In a series of tweets Binance CEO CZ communicated to the community that trading, withdrawals, and deposits have been resumed. As per the latest tweet by CZ there have been no significant liquidations on Margin. But it seems to be a neat coincidence that 11 hours post the unscheduled maintenance Bitcoin unhanded $500. Could there be some foul play?
Prominent cryptocurrency exchange Binance has suspended trading on its platform due to a previously unannounced system maintenance process.
Binance made this announcement via a blog post on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. The blog post alerted users of an unexpected system downtime resulting from “temporary system maintenance.”
For now, deposits, withdrawals, spot trading, margin trading, P2P trading, lending, assets transfers, futures account, transfers from sub-accounts, margin accounts and fiat wallets have all been suspended. With Futures trading as the only service currently allowed on the exchange. This is pending the completion of the maintenance process.
Speaking with CoinDesk, Josh Goodbody disclosed that the exchange was having issues with the system that pushes “data around the platform”. Also adding that “It was a simple system messaging error that we wanted to fix straightaway.” He disclosed that the area mainly affected was data balances. Adding that they were “slow to update”. Goodbody is Binance London based, Director.
No cause for alarm – CZ
CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ) took to Twitter to reassure users that the exchange has not been hacked. Also adding that all funds we’re safe.
At around 13:38 UTC he disclosed that the trading will resume in approximately 45-90 minutes. However, adding that this was a fairly rough estimate.
We will give 20-30 minutes of time to cancel orders when systems are all back online, before trading, as we typically do for maintenances.
A lot of our new users may not know this yet.
Probably another 45-90 minutes to go. Very rough estimate, don't know how accurate it is. https://t.co/s0AiE2akSx
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) February 19, 2020
In another Twitter post, he announced that users will not receive margin interests for the day. Adding that it was the “Least we could do.” He, however, promised to a few giveaways as compensation, after the maintenance has been completed.
We will waive everyone's margin interests for today. Least we could do.
Will also run some big campaigns after we deploy the performance fixes. https://t.co/WUMMDeBMAE
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) February 19, 2020
Last March, Binance lost about $40 million dollars to hackers in a well-orchestrated attack. According to investigators, the hack was possible because the hackers had access to important user information like 2FA code. However, CZ has assured users that funds are safe and there is no need to panic. Trading is expected to commence very soon.
Update: Current Status and Community reaction
At the time of the press, all Binance services seem to be working fine. But the community is really displeased with this unannounced maintenance that caught them off-guard.
Not only the Binance users but notable and pro-traders are talking about this becoming a recurring problem with Binance.
Unbelievable.
It's getting a daily problem on @binance nowadays.
But still, we keep on adding new leveraged pairs.
The priority is seemingly at letting you lose your money as fast as you can.
— Crypto Michaël (@CryptoMichNL) February 19, 2020
With this unfortunate incident, it seems Binance Cloud might take longer than usual to earn users’ trust.
On a positive note, CZ was appreciated for being communicating with the users incessantly.
Love the transparency.
What other CEO has the desire to speak with the community daily and even update when unfortunate events are happening?
Many things set #Binance apart.
— Crypto King (@JBTheCryptoKing) February 19, 2020
No private key no coin!!