Share this article
Bitcoin price briefly plunges to $0 on lesser-known Paradex exchange
Starknet-based DEX Paradex reversed its blockchain to an earlier block after a database migration error briefly crashed bitcoin’s price to zero.
Updated Jan 20, 2026, 5:27 a.m. Published Jan 19, 2026, 12:37 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
What to know:
- Paradex confirmed it rolled back the chain to block 1,604,710 after a faulty database migration caused erroneous pricing data.
- The glitch sent bitcoin’s price to zero on the exchange, triggering mass liquidations; all open orders were force-cancelled except take-profit/stop-loss (TPSL) orders.
- Trading resumed at 12:10 UTC following roughly eight hours offline, while Starknet’s STRK token fell about 3.6% after the incident.
Paradex, a decentralized exchange built as an appchain on the Starknet network, has confirmed a rollback after a data error caused the price of bitcoin to hit zero on the platform, triggering mass liquidations.
A Paradex team member wrote on Discord on Monday morning that the issue occurred following a database migration and that the chain would be rolled back to before the migration took place.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
"All open orders will be forced cancelled except TPSL (take-profit/stop-loss) orders," they added.
In a follow-up update on its status page, Paradex wrote that: "We can confirm that all user funds are SAFU. Due to the complexity of the recovery process, we do not have a confirmed ETA at this time."
The exchange, which had notched $37 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days, came back online at 12:10 UTC after around eight hours of downtime.
Decentralized exchanges like Paradex do not operate under traditional regulatory oversight, and issues such as database bugs, smart contract glitches, or integration problems with underlying chains can have outsized impacts on trading and liquidity.
Appchains are blockchains built for a single application, such as an exchange, in this case, giving developers more control over performance, fees, and execution.
Starknet's STRK token traded 3.6% lower after the data error occurred.
Paradex was founded by liquidity network Paradigm (not the VC firm), which faced business troubles amid the FTX collapse in 2022, as 7 out of its 10 top clients went bankrupt, according to Anand Gomes, the co-founder and CEO of Paradigm and Paradex.
A rollback is when a blockchain application resets its state to an earlier point in time to undo faulty data or transactions after a technical error, and is typically used as an emergency fix to restore normal operation and protect user funds.
These are, however, often met with criticism as they fail to keep a constant ledger of transactions intact, while disrupting the decentralized nature of blockchain technology. Layer 1 network Flow floated the idea of a rollback in December, eventually deciding against it after community outrage.
Monday's incident is the latest in a tumultuous few months for Paradex.
In September, the platform suffered a prolonged disruption after a bot attack overloaded legacy systems tied to its account creation services, leading to widespread latency and forced order cancellations.
CORRECTION (Jan. 19, 12:55 UTC): Corrects to say liquidity network Paradigm, which founded Paradex, lost 7 out of the top 10 clients during the FTX saga. The previous article said 70% of all clients. Also, updates the story to add context throughout.
