Coinbase Faces Widespread Outage, Leaving Users Unable to Access Crypto Exchange

Coinbase

, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, is grappling with a “system-wide outage” that has rendered its services inaccessible to users on both desktop and mobile platforms.

The exchange officially announced the outage on its status page, alerting users to a “major outage” that began at 4:15 am UTC on May 14.

As a result, attempting to visit the Coinbase website currently displays a “503 Service Temporarily Unavailable” error message.

“Coinbase experiencing a system wide outage. We are investigating this issue. Your funds are safe,” the message on its status page reads.

Coinbase Might be Experiencing an Overload

According to a developer guide from Mozilla, this error message commonly indicates that the servers are either undergoing maintenance or experiencing overload.

Coinbase Support took to social media to acknowledge the issue and assure users that they were actively investigating and working towards a solution.

They reiterated that users’ funds remained safe despite the disruption.

Coinbase is experiencing a system wide outage. We are investigating this issue and working on a solution. Please see https://t.co/a3pl4WiDhZ for updates. Your funds are safe.

— Coinbase Support (@CoinbaseSupport) May 14, 2024

This is not the first time Coinbase has faced temporary outages.

On February 28, along with several other exchanges, Coinbase experienced service disruptions due to a surge in crypto trading activity.

While such outages are undoubtedly frustrating for users, some individuals in the cryptocurrency community leverage these incidents to fuel a bullish narrative, suggesting that the heightened activity causing the downtime ultimately benefits the market price.

Although the outage duration and the underlying cause have not been specified by Coinbase, the company is expected to provide updates as they work to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to its platform.

KBW Increases Coinbase Price Target to $230

Last month, investment banking firm KBW hailed Coinbase for offering investors a unique opportunity to tap into the long-term growth potential of the crypto economy and increased its price target for COIN to $230.

In a research analysis, KBW raised its Coinbase price target from $160 to $230 while maintaining its market performance rating. 

Meanwhile, Coinbase has also faced its fair share of regulatory trouble.

Last month, Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the US District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled that the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase can proceed.

The Judge’s decision came after Coinbase filed a motion to dismiss the SEC case, which borders on allegations the exchange operates as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.

In her ruling, Judge Failla declared that the SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase held “plausible” ground. 

“The Court finds the SEC has sufficiently pleaded that Coinbase operates as an exchange, as a broker, and as a clearing agency under the federal securities laws, and through its Staking Program engages in the unregistered offer and sale of securities,” the court document read.

As reported, Kathryn Haun, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and partner at Andreesen-Horowitz, has stepped down from Coinbase’s board.