Binance Resumes Bitcoin Withdrawals After Pause

The world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, resumed withdrawals of bitcoin (BTC) after a pause early Monday, the company said.

• The problem was “due to a stuck transaction causing a backlog,” according to a tweet from CEO Changpeng Zhao.
• It was originally expected to be fixed in about 30 minutes, according to the tweet at 12:00 UTC. Minutes later, however, he said the issue was going to take a bit longer to resolve.
• The Binance chief said the funds are SAFU, referring to the Secure Asset Fund for Users emergency insurance fund that his exchange established four years ago. He further explained that the issue was only impacting the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin remained available to withdraw on other networks like BEP-20, he said.
• The Binance withdrawal pause comes close on the heels of crypto lending network Celsius announcing Sunday night that it was suspending withdrawals, which caused a further cascade lower in crypto prices, with bitcoin (BTC) on Monday morning trading below $24,000.

UPDATE (June 13, 15:55 UTC): Adds that withdrawals on the Bitcoin network have resumed.