Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency
exchange, on Monday temporarily paused Bitcoin withdrawals on its platform.
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao explained
that “ a stuck transaction causing a backlog” necessitated the action.
Zhao in an earlier post on Twitter had said that
the issue will be cleared in 30 minutes but later announced that the impasse
would take a bit longer to fix.
The CEO, however, noted that a halt on
withdrawals only affects the Bitcoin network.
Zhao, who also pointed out that users can still
withdraw BTC from other networks like BEP-20, noted that all users’ funds are
in the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU).
Temporary pause of $BTC withdrawals on #Binance due to a stuck transaction causing a backlog. Should be fixed in ~30 minutes. Will update.
Funds are SAFU.
— CZ ???? Binance (@cz_binance) June 13, 2022
While the BEP-20 is a token standard deployed in
creating tokens on the Binance Smart Chain, SAFU is an emergency insurance
fund.
Binance established SAFU in July 2018 to protect
users’ funds.
The exchange’s action follows a similar measure taken by Celsius, a crypto lending platform.
Celsius in a Monday announcement said it was pausing all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between accounts. The firm said the decision was taken due to extreme volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
Crypto Crash
Bitcoin slumped by 14% at the beginning of the
new week. The cryptocurrency fell below $24,000. This plunge is the lowest since
December 2020.
According to estimates, more than $200 billion
was lost in the cryptocurrency market during the crash.
TIME reports that the fall follows the release of the May 2022 Consumer Price Index by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Over the past one day, other top cryptocurrencies have also slumped between 15-25%. These include Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGGE).
Meanwhile, Zhao last week disclosed that Binance was after two licenses in the Philippines.
These are the virtual
asset service provider (VASP) and the electronic money issuer (EMI) licenses.
The US subsidiary of the exchange also recently launched a new staking platform, Binance.US Staking. Binance.US explained that the new staking platform comes with a ‘auto-restake’ feature and enables users to stake a selection of tokens.
“Multiple supported Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrencies are available immediately on Binance.US Staking, including Audius (AUDIO), Avalanche (AVAX), BNB, Cosmos (ATOM), Livepeer (LPT), Solana (SOL) and The Graph (GRT), with more supported tokens being added to the platform in the near future,” Binance said in a statement.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency
exchange, on Monday temporarily paused Bitcoin withdrawals on its platform.
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao explained
that “ a stuck transaction causing a backlog” necessitated the action.
Zhao in an earlier post on Twitter had said that
the issue will be cleared in 30 minutes but later announced that the impasse
would take a bit longer to fix.
The CEO, however, noted that a halt on
withdrawals only affects the Bitcoin network.
Zhao, who also pointed out that users can still
withdraw BTC from other networks like BEP-20, noted that all users’ funds are
in the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU).
Temporary pause of $BTC withdrawals on #Binance due to a stuck transaction causing a backlog. Should be fixed in ~30 minutes. Will update.
Funds are SAFU.
— CZ ???? Binance (@cz_binance) June 13, 2022
While the BEP-20 is a token standard deployed in
creating tokens on the Binance Smart Chain, SAFU is an emergency insurance
fund.
Binance established SAFU in July 2018 to protect
users’ funds.
The exchange’s action follows a similar measure taken by Celsius, a crypto lending platform.
Celsius in a Monday announcement said it was pausing all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between accounts. The firm said the decision was taken due to extreme volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
Crypto Crash
Bitcoin slumped by 14% at the beginning of the
new week. The cryptocurrency fell below $24,000. This plunge is the lowest since
December 2020.
According to estimates, more than $200 billion
was lost in the cryptocurrency market during the crash.
TIME reports that the fall follows the release of the May 2022 Consumer Price Index by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Over the past one day, other top cryptocurrencies have also slumped between 15-25%. These include Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGGE).
Meanwhile, Zhao last week disclosed that Binance was after two licenses in the Philippines.
These are the virtual
asset service provider (VASP) and the electronic money issuer (EMI) licenses.
The US subsidiary of the exchange also recently launched a new staking platform, Binance.US Staking. Binance.US explained that the new staking platform comes with a ‘auto-restake’ feature and enables users to stake a selection of tokens.
“Multiple supported Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrencies are available immediately on Binance.US Staking, including Audius (AUDIO), Avalanche (AVAX), BNB, Cosmos (ATOM), Livepeer (LPT), Solana (SOL) and The Graph (GRT), with more supported tokens being added to the platform in the near future,” Binance said in a statement.
