Binance Temporarily Paused Spot Trading Due to a Bug
- Crypto exchange Binance disabled spot trading for about two hours after its matching engine encountered a bug on a trailing stop order.
- All services have now been restored, but the platform said that trailing stop orders will be disabled “for the time being”, and existing ones will be cancelled.
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Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, temporarily suspended spot trading on the platform due to a bug, the company said via Twitter on 24 March.
According to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, initial analysis indicated the issue that impacted spot trading came from a bug in the platform’s matching engine — discovered on a trailing stop order — which he expected would be fixed in up to 120 minutes. CZ also noted that all deposits and withdrawals on the platform were paused as a “standard operating procedure”, and assured Binance users that their funds were safe. He also argued that the issue would have no significant impact on the market, saying:
“When the biggest exchange halts trading, prices won’t move much. If it moves on smaller exchanges, when Binance comes back, our deeper orderbook will bring the price back, causing those guys to lose money. Traders know this.”
An hour after spot trading was suspended, Zhao announced that the issue was partly resolved, and that the exchange was bringing “Engine 1” back online. He also noted that more time was needed to do reconciliations, and that it would take a while until the other engines are able to “catch up”.
About two hours after the initial announcement, Binance said it had completed the temporary system maintenance, and that all trading activity on the platform would be resumed by 14:00 UTC, and that withdrawals would be resumed shortly after. CZ also announced that trailing stops would be disabled “for the time being”, and that existing trailing orders will be cancelled.
- The company said it will be suspending its crypto-backed debit card service in the Middle East on 25 August, and in Latin America by 21 September.
- Although no reason was given for the decision, the company noted that “less than 1% of users” in those regions will be affected by the change.
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- A spokesperson said the change was due to the “changing market and user needs”, and that Binance will now be refocusing its resources on its main products and long-term goals.
- Launched in March 2022, Binance Connect helped crypto businesses connect with the traditional finance system, and supported 50 cryptocurrencies and networks such as Visa and Mastercard.
- Scheduled for 7 July, the suspension will impact AVA, SPELL, BIFI, ALPACA, POLS, ACH, SUPER, and FARM on the BNB Smart Chain, Fantom, Avalanche, and Ethereum networks.
- Binance clarified that trading of these tokens will not be impacted, and that users will still be able to deposit and withdraw them through alternative networks that do not involve the Multichain project.