Binance has suspended trading on Thursday. The exchange is rumored to have been hacked, but Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges has denied these reports.Â
The company alerted investors with an official announcement that said, "Due to a significant increase in users and trading activity, Binance will need to extend the system upgrade."
Initial reports claimed the upgrade would be completed by 2 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, with the company suspending trading and withdrawals until 4 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Friday. Investors fear that the company's large issue may be another instance of an exchange being hacked.
Coincheck was the victim of a $530 million hack.
Zhao Changpeng, chief executive of Binance, said the company was adding a couple million registered users weekly in mid-January. The growth of Binance comes at a time when Bitcoin rose to over $19,000 before trading below $6,000 earlier this week.
Binance's downtime isn't the first time the company faced growth issues. The company suspended new registrations in January, as hundreds of thousands of traders were registering on the site daily.
"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, rumors are flying among top crypto influencers that they may have been hacked. Will keep you informed," stated John McAfee, founder of McAfee Associates.
Cryptocurrencies remained mixed on the news after a week of sharp losses. Bitcoin is up 3.64% as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, with the currency trading at $8,414. Ethereum is down 1.57% to $816.00, Bitcoin Cash is up 30.73% to $1,312 and Ripple fell 2.94% to $0.75900.
Investor concerns over digital currencies are on the rise, with India claiming that it will issue tax notices to investors suspected of concealing cryptocurrency profits. The country sent 100,000 tax notices to investors suspected of concealing profits.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) added to investor fears this week when the authority outlined their area of focus for the year. The agency will have a major focus on "financial innovation." The ESMA also made note of a focus on distributed ledger technology and virtual currencies.
The ESMA announced in January that it was seeking public feedback on regulatory measures to take on cryptocurrencies.
Investors will want to remain cautious, as further regulation will have a major sway on the cryptocurrency market. Vanguard's chief added to investor worry on Thursday, with a statement that there's a good probability that bitcoin will fall to zero.
Bitcoin's price volatility will remain an investor concern going forward, according to Vanguard. The currency will have difficulty with vendor adoption, with price fluctuations ranging from the currency trading at $1,000 a year ago to near $20,000 by the end of the year and losing over $13,000 in value at some points in the last two months.
Disclosure: Author does not have any stake in the listed equities.
