Binance, the second most popular crypto exchange in the world, according to CoinMarketCap data, has resumed its operations following an extended break due to the system upgrade.  The said upgrade is likely the result of a warning by the Binance risk management team and the cause for it is still unknown. 

A planned system upgrade was announced on the 24th of June and was initially supposed to last only a few of hours.  However, the automated security has detected a vulnerability, which causes the break to be extended for another couple of days. 

The upgrade was finally completed at 2:45 PM UTC June 27th and as of press time normal service is resumed.  The clients of the exchange can use all account-related functions, such as process deposits and withdrawals, place or cancel trades, etc. 

In exchange for its customer patience, Binance has decreased its trading fees by 70 percent.  Nonetheless, numerous users still took to social media to voice their discontent, as a number of problems, such as missing account balance or other discrepancies were reported. 

https://twitter.com/mikeydoeswork/status/1011982392955981825

Digital currency exchanges usually experience similar issues when warned by their security teams that a potential weakness has been detected within their system.  Bitfinex, another regular fixture in the top 10 of biggest crypto exchanges by 24-hour trading volume, was forced to implement a lengthy update earlier this month, as its maintenance team noticed issues that were considered as an attempt to hack the company. 

CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao, better known as ‘CZ’ in the crypto sphere apologized for delays via his official Twitter account.  However, the crypto billionaire assured that the upgrade was needed and will definitely be beneficial for Binance users in the long term. 

https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1012027498643591170

During its downtime, two newcomers have managed to overcome Binance and other industry stalwarts in the trading volume rankings.  Operating on a so-called “trans-fee mining” model the Singapore-based CoinBene and Hong Kong’s Bit-Z rose straight to the top due to the investor interest in the new scheme.  The new model means that said exchanges have their own token and, while traders still have to pay transaction fees in ETH or BTC, they are fully reimbursed in the said token. 

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Zhao criticised the new guys on the block, questioning their transparency and viability in the long-term. 

However, it seems the rise to the top was quick but also brief as Bit-Z and CoinBene have accordingly dropped to 12th and 24th spots in the rankings as of press time. 

Image Source: “Flickr”