Last updated:
March 4, 2024 20:44 EST
| 2 min read
Coinbase’s trading platform is once again encountering technical problems amid heavy trading activity in the cryptocurrency market, with some users experiencing issues such as displaying a $0 account balance.
We are aware some users may experience increased latency across https://t.co/ohqDivlp6Y and a few users may see intermittent zero balance. Rest assured, your funds are safe. Our team is investigating this issue and will provide an update. Trading is not impacted at this time.
— Coinbase Support (@CoinbaseSupport) March 4, 2024
In response to these issues, Coinbase reassured users that their funds are safe and stated that its team is actively investigating the situation. Despite the technical glitches, trading functionality has not been affected at this time.
Coinbase Faces Technical Glitches Amid Market Surge, Users Assured of Asset Safety
This isn’t the first time Coinbase has encountered such problems. Less than a week ago, the platform experienced similar technical glitches due to a surge in traffic.
Reports on social media platforms highlighted the issue, prompting Coinbase’s support account to acknowledge the problem and assure users of the safety of their assets. Despite the outage, the exchange reiterated that trading remains unaffected at the moment.
The recent surge in market activity and bullish sentiment has strained Coinbase’s infrastructure, resulting in intermittent technical issues. Increased outages were reported in the last 24 hours, likely due to traders and investors flocking to the platform to capitalize on the positive market momentum. This influx of users may have overwhelmed the exchange’s servers, leading to latency and zero-balance issues for some users.
Coinbase’s platform issues coincide with a period of significant market activity as the price of Bitcoin approaches an all-time high amid heightened trading volumes. At the time of reporting, Bitcoin was trading at $66,617.
In a statement, Coinbase acknowledged the issue, stating, “We are aware that some users may see a zero balance across their Coinbase accounts and may experience errors in buying or selling. Our team is investigating this issue and will provide an update shortly. Your assets are safe.”
Despite these challenges, Coinbase assured users of ongoing improvements in customer trading, although some may still experience errors in login, sends, receives, and payment methods due to increased traffic.
We are dealing with a LARGE surge of traffic – apologies for any issues you encounter. The team is working to remediate.
— Brian Armstrong 🛡️ (@brian_armstrong) February 28, 2024
Furthermore, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong addressed the issue, acknowledging that the traffic exceeded their expectations despite load testing. He mentioned the challenges of keeping services over-provisioned but committed to working on auto-scaling solutions to address bottlenecks.
Some Analysts Believe That It Is a Positive Indicator for the Market
Despite the technical difficulties, some users view Coinbase’s history of outages during market upswings as a positive indicator for the market. According to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart, the balance error is considered a strong indicator of bullish market sentiment as Bitcoin ETFs have witnessed significant trading volumes, with over $2.6 billion in volume within the same period.
As the leading cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Coinbase serves as the institutional custodian for many spot Bitcoin ETFs, including those offered by major asset management firms like BlackRock.
Following the initial announcement of technical issues, Coinbase provided an update indicating that latencies were beginning to improve and transfers were being completed. After that, Coinbase has not provided further details on the issue or when it may be resolved.
However, it’s important to note that exchanges like Coinbase have also faced technical issues during market downturns. In May 2021, both Coinbase and Binance experienced outages during a significant cryptocurrency market crash.
In the stock market, Coinbase’s stock (COIN) is currently trading at $226, marking a significant increase of over 10% in the past 24 hours. This surge in price coincides with the growing traction of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the market and Bitcoin’s approach towards its previous all-time high of $69,000.
