Binance Access Restored, as Exchange Claims DDoS Attack on Cloud Provider

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has endured what the company is calling a DDoS attack on its cloud provider. The issue initially surfaced yesterday, as users were unable to access their accounts, following a scheduled maintenance update.

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Binance has now issued a statement on its website, saying that the exchange has “completed its system upgrade and we expect all trading activity to resume at 10:00 AM (UTC).”

Moreover, the announcement relayed that during the 60 minutes prior to trading restoration, users will be able to cancel orders, process deposits and withdrawals, and conduct any other account functions without restrictions.

In an effort to compensate users for the lack of access to their accounts, Binance has also announced that all users will receive a 70% discount on trading fees (0.03% on all trades, 0.015% with BNB). The discounted fees will remain in effect until February 24, at 00:00 AM (UTC).

System Upgrade Completehttps://t.co/LIoeKdGWpy pic.twitter.com/IBynIcyGbK

— binance (@binance_2017) February 9, 2018

Approximate Timeline of Events

In the aftermath of the saga, exchange’s CEO Zhao Chengpeng published a tweet, in an attempt to provide the public with additional information regarding the incident.

System will be coming online soon. If you have issues access https://t.co/EtPD2bFzOK, please try https://t.co/pUlb5rOdnH or https://t.co/nZWSnxoCNd . There was a DDoS attack on our cloud provider, resolved, but still some lingering effects.

— CZ (@cz_binance) February 9, 2018

Initial indications yesterday pointed to server issues that caused the delay in restoring systems functionality, stemming from messages relayed by the company through their twitter account.

Due to an unforeseen slowdown in the speed of our data sync, we now estimate for all trading activity to resume at 2018/02/09 4AM (UTC). In the 30 minutes prior to the commencement of trading, users will be able to use utilize all other account related functions. https://t.co/ll1HgPslTU

— binance (@binance_2017) February 8, 2018

Despite claims that unforeseen incidents caused the malfunction, CEO Zhao Chengpeng tweeted that a more detailed and technical explanation for the incident, specifying a server issue causing data sync failure.

We experienced a server issue on our replica database cluster, causing some data to be out of sync. Need to fully resync from master. Due the size of the data, it will take several hours. No data is lost. We appreciate your understanding and support.

— CZ (@cz_binance) February 8, 2018

Shortly thereafter, John McAfee sent a tweet claiming that rumors had surfaced, which appeared to indicate that the true cause behind the lack of access to the exchange was that the exchange was hacked.

Binance has suspended trading. The company claims that they are doing a system upgrade and will resume at 2:00 AM GMT Friday. While I have no hard evidence, rumours are flying among top crypto influencers that they may have been hacked. Will keep you informed.

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) February 8, 2018

These issues were swiftly denied by Binance, denying the claims in a fast reply to McAfee’s tweet, asking him to refrain from spreading false and unproven information.

Binance has not been hacked. Please do not spread false information. If you want to keep updated on the status of our system upgrade you’re welcome to follow @cz_binance or @binance_2017

— binance (@binance_2017) February 8, 2018

Binance has risen to quickly become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. At the height of the crypto craze, the exchange claimed 250,000 new user registrations recorded within just one hour.

The exchange provides crypto enthusiasts and investors with access to a myriad of crypto assets and coins, thereby enabling a centralized portfolio with the potential for immense diversification, relative to competing exchanges.