Silhouette holding phone that displays Coinbase logo. Source: gguy - stock.adobe.com

Key Takeaways:

Coinbase experienced a significant system-wide outage, starting at 4:15 am UTC on May 14, rendering the platform inaccessible on desktop and mobile.
The outage was announced with a “503 Service Temporarily Unavailable” message, suggesting server issues from high traffic or maintenance.
Despite the outage, Coinbase confirmed that all user funds are secure, and they are investigating the cause to resolve the issue.

A recent “system-wide” outage at the United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has left its platform inaccessible, affecting users attempting to use the service on both desktop and mobile platforms.

The outage was first reported on Coinbase’s official status page, indicating that a “major outage” began at 4:15 am UTC on May 14.

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

Those attempting to access the website are currently met with a “503 Service Temporarily Unavailable” error message, which commonly occurs when servers are either down for maintenance or overwhelmed by excessive load.

Coinbase’s support team took to their official X account on the same day to update users about the outage, confirming that they are actively investigating the cause and working towards a resolution.

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US, is experiencing a system wide outage, according to its website https://t.co/B525QdKfsZ
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) May 14, 2024

They reassured users that all funds remain secure despite the technical issues.

This is not the first time Coinbase has experienced downtime; on February 28, it and several other exchanges faced temporary service disruptions following a significant increase in cryptocurrency trading activity.

Coinbase experienced a rare widespread outage lasting more than 4 hours, which has been fixed. Coinbase did not disclose the specific reasons or compensation plan for users. https://t.co/kVieYIFd0P
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 14, 2024

This surge led to a flash crash in Bitcoin’s value, dropping nearly 10% before quickly recovering.

Despite the inconvenience, some crypto enthusiasts on X view these outages as positive, suggesting that the high traffic levels causing these disruptions indicate a growing interest and engagement in the cryptocurrency market, which they believe could ultimately benefit the sector.