"When Prices Drop... Cryptocurrency Exchanges Frequently Go 'Offline'"

On the morning of the 13th, the Bitcoin price was displayed on the screen in the Bithumb Gangnam Center lounge in Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] In major domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, delays in trading and deposits have been occurring roughly every four days. This has raised concerns about system stability and investor protection, leading to calls for a dedicated regulatory authority and legislation to ensure the stable operation of exchanges.

At the domestic cryptocurrency exchange 'Bithumb,' a total of four connection delay incidents have occurred just this month.

On the 14th, a notice was posted stating that due to a surge in visitors at the domestic cryptocurrency exchange 'Bithumb,' increased traffic caused delays in accessing the site.
[Photo by Bithumb homepage capture]

On the 14th, Bithumb posted a notice stating that a temporary site access delay occurred due to increased traffic caused by a surge in users. Bithumb explained that access via mobile web and app was temporarily delayed and recommended trading through personal computers (PCs). They later announced that the issue was resolved through emergency measures.

Earlier, on the 11th, Bithumb experienced delays in trade order execution due to a surge in connections and order volume. In the early morning of that day, a screen error caused sudden sharp fluctuations in Bitcoin prices.

At around 6 a.m. that day, Bithumb announced, "An error occurred in displaying prices, change rates, and charts on the main site screen, and emergency measures are currently underway," adding, "We will restore normal service as soon as possible." Similar notices were posted on the 5th and 7th of this month.

On the same day, Upbit, one of the two major domestic cryptocurrency exchanges alongside Bithumb, experienced a similar error. Around 10 a.m., Upbit's exchange screen numbers stopped moving. Upbit then posted a notice titled "Emergency Server Maintenance Notice," stating, "We are conducting emergency server maintenance due to an issue with price display suspension," and later announced that trading had resumed normally.

According to the financial sector on the 16th, there have been a total of 11 error incidents at Bithumb from April through the 16th of this month. This means that delay incidents have occurred roughly every four days over the past month and a half.

The frequency of delay types was △ trading and execution delays (3 times) △ connection delays (1 time) △ chart update delays (1 time) △ delay in generating new Bitcoin deposit addresses (1 time) △ KakaoTalk notification authentication delays (1 time), among others.

Additionally, delays in Korean won withdrawals occurred three times just last month, and temporary suspensions of deposits and withdrawals for individual coins due to network issues have been happening frequently.

Such frequent errors in order, execution, and deposit/withdrawal systems?where transactions worth trillions of won take place?have raised investor concerns, especially since these issues occurred during sharp cryptocurrency price drops.

One cryptocurrency investor said, "While errors can occur due to a surge in users during rapid price changes, the frequent repetition of the same situation is suspicious," adding, "I question whether the errors that occur every time coin prices fall are really just coincidences."

Experts have pointed out that a dedicated government department and legislation are fundamentally necessary to supervise and enforce the stability of cryptocurrency exchange order and deposit systems as well as investor protection measures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.