Crypto Giant Binance Abruptly Halts Spot Trading – What Happens?
In a surprising twist, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume, has temporarily suspended all online spot trading on its platform.
The suspension came after a bug was discovered in the exchange’s matching engine, which caused an unfortunate disruption in the digital asset market.
Bitcoin, for example, fell $700 before partially recovering from the decline.
Binance acknowledged the issue in a tweet shortly after the issues were discovered:
The suspension has left traders and investors in a state of anxiety, questioning the stability of the platform and the safety of their funds.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, quickly stepped in to provide reassurance and clarification.
In a follow-up tweet, he shared that an unusual error had been found in a trailing stop order and that the issue had been resolved:
As the recovery process continued, CZ provided further updates, noting that Engine 1 was back online, but that more time was needed for reconciliations and for other engines to catch up.
He admitted the unfortunate timing of the error, which occurred 57 minutes after the hour mark, and lengthened the voting process.
The latest in a series of problems for Binance
Founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, Binance initially operated out of China before relocating its headquarters in response to the Chinese government’s regulations on cryptocurrency trading.
The exchange has faced several challenges in recent years, including investigations by the US Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service into allegations of money laundering and tax offences.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority also ordered Binance to cease all regulated activity in the country by June 2021.
Furthermore, Binance shared client data with the Russian government in 2021, raising concerns about customer privacy and security.
Just this morning, news broke that Binance has been found in violation of China’s crypto ban, with Binance employees helping mainland customers forge fake documents to meet the Binance exchange’s KYC/AML requirements.
As the global leader in cryptocurrency trading, Binance’s temporary suspension of spot trading has undoubtedly sent shockwaves through the digital asset market.
As the exchange works to resolve the issue, the incident serves as a reminder of the potential pitfalls and complexities associated with the ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency.
For now, investors and traders eagerly await the restoration of Binance’s full functionality and the platform’s continued efforts to maintain the trust and confidence of its user base.
Update: As of March 24 14:00 UTC, trading has resumed.
