Coinbase, one of the leading bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges, experienced a significant outage today as the price of bitcoin skyrocketed, leaving many users' accounts malfunctioning. The outage came amid a sharp increase in trading activity following the rise in the price of bitcoin, which briefly surpassed $64,000.
JUST IN: Coinbase reportedly crashed.
– bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) February 28, 2024
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong attributed the outage to a “huge surge in traffic” overwhelming the exchange's infrastructure. The sudden influx of users trying to buy, sell, or trade bitcoin overwhelmed Coinbase's servers, causing connectivity issues for many customers.
“We are aware that some users may see a zero balance in their Coinbase accounts and may experience errors when buying or selling,” Coinbase fixed. “Our team is investigating this and will provide an update shortly. Your assets are safe.”
We are dealing with a HUGE increase in traffic. Apologies for any problems you encounter. The team is working to remedy.
– Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 28, 2024
Following the outage, the price of bitcoin dropped sharply from ~$64,000 to ~$59,500, wiping out most of the gains bitcoin had made today. Coinbase has experienced similar outages in the past during periods of intense market volatility, prompting criticism from users and industry observers.
Despite the temporary disruption, bitcoin 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 interest from the investors.
As Coinbase works to restore normal operations, the incident serves as a reminder of the challenges associated with running large-scale bitcoin exchanges and the importance of robust infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted service for users.
