Binance, one of the major global cryptocurrency exchanges, announced today that it has temporarily suspended all spot trading on its platform as a result of a bug issue found in the matching engine.
The exchange has also halted deposits and withdrawals as part of its standard operating procedure.
The issue was initially reported on Binance‘s official Twitter account, which stated:
We are aware of an issue impacting spot trading on Binance.
All spot trading is currently temporarily suspended as we work to resolve this as soon as possible.
New updates will be shared here.
— Binance (@binance) March 24, 2023
Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao later provided additional details about the problem in a series of tweets. He revealed that the bug was discovered on a trailing stop order and is expected to be fixed within 120 minutes.
“Deposits and withdrawals are paused as a standard operating procedure. Funds are #SAFU,” CZ wrote.
https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1639235255054860290?
In an effort to address concerns of investors and traders, CZ made reference to the historical practice of transistor engineers removing bugs from systems in the 1940s to maintain operations.
He also suggested that the present issues are not expected to significantly impact the market.
CZ explained that when the largest exchange halts trading, prices generally do not experience drastic fluctuations, and if they do on smaller exchanges, Binance’s deeper order book will help stabilize the price once trading resumes.
Around one hour after the initial announcement, CZ informed that one of the engines had been restored. He tweeted, “Engine 1 is back online. Still need more time to do reconciliations, and for other engines to catch up.” However, the reconciliation process is anticipated to require additional time.
As a prominent cryptocurrency exchange, Binance’s temporary suspension of spot trading has drawn the attention of the international crypto community.
The timely response and transparent communication from the company’s CEO have been crucial in addressing concerns and providing updates on the situation.