Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals earlier on Friday due to a "bug on a trailing stop order," Chief Executive Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet, adding that the pause in deposits and withdrawals was a standard operating procedure. Ilya Volkov, CEO of Youhodler, a crypto lending platform, agreed that the pause was a result of a technical glitch and would not affect cryptocurrency prices significantly.
Bitcoin , the world's largest cryptocurrency was down 1.14% at $28,021. It hit a nine-month high on Monday.
"These kinds of bugs could happen everywhere, and crypto exchanges are not unique," Volkov said. A Binance spokesperson did not respond to a request for additional comment.
The world's largest crypto exchange said last week it will halt sterling deposits and withdrawals, a month after it ceased dollar transfers.
The cessation of traditional currency transfers comes amid a growing crypto crackdown by U.S. authorities. Reuters has previously reported that the Justice Department is investigating Binance for suspected money laundering and sanctions violations.
A top Binance executive told The Wall Street Journal and
Bloomberg last month that Binance expected to pay penalties to
resolve U.S. investigations into the company.
(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru, Tommy
Reggiori Wilkes in London and Hannah Lang in Washington; Editing
by Arun Koyyur, Kirsten Donovan)
