Major crypto exchange Binance paused bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals due to a backlog, according to its CEO.
Changpeng Zhao tweeted today that there has been a “temporary pause” of BTC withdrawals on the exchange. Per the CEO, this is the result of “a stuck transaction causing a backlog.” He went on to ensure the users that the funds “are SAFU,” or safe.
Zhao’s initial estimate was that the issue “should be fixed” in about 30 minutes. Some 20 minutes later, he added that “likely this is going to take a bit longer to fix.”
He further explained that “this is only impacting the Bitcoin network,” and that the users can still withdraw BTC “on other networks like BEP-20.”
If you’re withdrawing #Bitcoin using another network, follow these steps:
Select $BTC in your spot wallet > click withdraw > send via crypto network > enter the address you’re sending to > select network (BEP20 or ERC20) > confirm withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/bIxzyRvjSw
— Binance (@binance) June 13, 2022
Meanwhile, pseudonymous Terra researcher FatMan argued that “some additional clarity would be nice.”
“Not sure why no one has mentioned this, but Bitcoin doesn’t work like that,” tweeted the researcher, stating that Bitcoin is not like Ethereum (ETH) where transactions “require an iterative nonce – you can spend inputs even if a transaction from the same address is stuck in the mempool.”
This can happen, FatMan goes on to say, if an exchange spends the entire hot wallet balance, “one output to the user, the change amount back to themselves,” which the commenter claims the FTX exchange does sometimes, but Binance likely does not.
“By the way, I’m just pointing out a detail in his wording that I found interesting. I do not think Binance is insolvent – nor do I think they will ever be,” FatMan said, adding that “withdrawals will be fine, give it a bit.”
The news comes at the time when the cryptoworld is most likely extra sensitive to suspension of services, given the massive earthquake caused by major crypto lender Celsius (CEL). As reported, it abruptly halted withdrawals, transfers between accounts, and Swap due to “extreme market conditions.”
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