Coinbase recovering after major outage, but withdrawal issues remain

The cryptocurrency exchange hasn’t yet explained why the platform suddenly went down

The Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange suffered a major outage on May 14. No reason has been given for the system-wide shutdown that lasted over three hours, and many users are still unable to transfer funds on the exchange. Coinbase said it’s continuing its investigation into the incident. 

Coinbase announced the system-wide outage on its status page at 4:19 AM UTC and later informed customers that the exchange was fully recovered at 7:34 AM UTC.

Coinbase is now fully recovered. We appreciate your patience and apologize for the inconvenience. https://t.co/AAzEMPaJGL

— Coinbase Support (@CoinbaseSupport) May 14, 2024

According to CoinMarketCap, Coinbase is the second-biggest crypto exchange worldwide, with a $2.4 billion 24-hour trading volume. Binance is the current market leader, with over $18.7 billion in trading volume.

Some users say they’re still experiencing transaction difficulties after Coinbase announced the system was up and running. A pseudonymous X user known as Rocket responded to Coinbase’s announcement,  commenting, “This tweet is false as millions of people are still unable to withdraw or transfer their assets.”

Coinbase’s status page reported on May 14 that it had been dealing with “degraded transactions,” later informing customers that the problem had been fixed as of 4:19 AM. Users are still reporting that Coinbase remains offline, and many are asking X’s Community Notes to fact-check the company’s post stating the system is “fully recovered.” 

New crypto investors mostly purchase digital assets on centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase because they offer a more user-friendly platform than decentralized exchanges. Consequently, system failures and transaction issues can be damaging to overall trust in the crypto sector.