Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has suspended withdrawals of Bitcoin and Ethereum due to “irregularities” with its hot wallet. The announcement was made via the exchange’s official Twitter account on Wednesday, February 7.
“Binance has discovered irregularities with its hot wallet cluster and has taken action to suspend withdrawals while we investigate,” the tweet reads. “We are working to determine the root cause and will fully resume withdrawals once the issue is resolved.”
The news comes just days after Binance paused trading on its platform for two hours due to “server maintenance.” The exchange later said that the maintenance was “unrelated” to the issues with its hot wallet.
At the time of writing, Binance has not provided any further details about the irregularity or when withdrawals will be resumed. However, the exchange says it is “fully committed to protecting user funds” and will provide an update within 24 hours.
This is not the first time that Binance has had to halt withdrawals due to technical issues. In July 2018, the exchange paused withdrawals for a week due to an “accidental” software upgrade that caused a server backup issue.
And in February 2019, Binance stopped withdrawals for two weeks while it upgraded its systems to comply with new anti-money laundering regulations in Japan.
Binance is not alone in experiencing technical difficulties that have led to suspended withdrawals. In January 2019, Cryptopia, a New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange, went into liquidation after being hacked twice in as many months.
The hack led to the theft of more than $16 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) and other cryptocurrencies, and Cryptopia was unable to repay its customers.
Similarly, QuadrigaCX, Canada’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, went bankrupt in 2019 after its CEO died suddenly and took with him the only set of keys needed to access $140 million worth of customer funds stored in cold wallets.
Binance is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and it has been growing rapidly over the past year or so. However, this latest incident will no doubt cause some users to question whether their funds are safe on the platform.
The fact that Binance has been forced to suspend withdrawals due to irregular activity on its hot wallet suggests that there may be some security concerns that need to be addressed. Until more information is released by Binance, it is difficult to say what exactly has happened or how serious this issue may be.