Coinbase Suffers Brief Outage as Bitcoin Tumbles 10% in 30 Minutes

Other U.S. exchanges, including Kraken, reported all systems as operational during the weekend price crash.

AccessTimeIconMay 10, 2020 at 1:44 a.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 8:39 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Coinbase experienced a brief outage Saturday as the price of bitcoin crashed 10% in 30 minutes.

According to Coinbase’s status page, the exchange’s website, mobile app, and API website experienced partial outages beginning at 17:26 Pacific time (00:26 UTC). Ten minutes later, the San Francisco-based company said it was still investigating. Prominent Twitter accounts also noted Coinbase’s outage as the price of Bitcoin tumbled from $9,500 to $8,100. 

By 18:14 UTC on the West Coast, service had been restored for the San Francisco-based company's consumer and professional trading sites. Reached Saturday evening, a spokesperson for Coinbase declined to comment beyond what was on the status page, which said the exchange was monitoring the situation. 

Other U.S. exchanges, including Kraken, reported all systems as operational during the weekend price crash. 

Coinbase experienced a similar outage last week when bitcoin rallied 15% to $8,900. At the time of publishing, Coinbase’s volume was not excessively high relative to other peaks in trading volume during the past two weeks, according to data provider Skew.

Coinbase trading volume
Coinbase trading volume

Cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase tend to suffer temporary outages during periods of acute price volatility.

The weekend sell-off comes just days before bitcoin's next halving, a hotly anticipated once-in-four-years event whose implications for the cryptocurrency's price are a subject of debate in crypto trading circles.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, institutional digital assets exchange. Bullish group is majority owned by Block.one; both groups have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary, and an editorial committee, chaired by a former editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal, is being formed to support journalistic integrity.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about