Binance among crypto exchanges hit by Amazon Web Services outage

(Reuters) - Crypto exchange Binance said it briefly stopped allowing users to withdraw from the platform on Tuesday, due to an issue involving an Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre, while other crypto exchanges also reported problems.

Binance posted on X that withdrawals were suspended "to keep safe", before posting around ten minutes later that withdrawals had resumed. A spokesperson for Binance said withdrawals were suspended for around 23 minutes.

AWS's service dashboard showed a "connectivity issue" affected its Tokyo cloud region at 1.15 a.m. PDT (0815 GMT). The issue was resolved by 1.51 a.m. PDT (0851 GMT).

“The issue has been resolved and the service is operating normally,” an AWS spokesperson said.

Another crypto exchange, KuCoin, also said it was experiencing "temporary disruptions".

"Our technical team is urgently working on a fix, and the recovery time will be announced separately. Rest assured that your assets remain secure and all data is intact," KuCoin said in a post on X.

A spokesperson for KuCoin said via email that the disruption was due to an AWS outage that affected services across the Tokyo data centre.

"Some services have already been restored, and our team is working closely with AWS to recover full functionality as quickly as possible. No user assets or data have been affected," the spokesperson said.

Crypto exchange MEXC said in a post on X that due to AWS disruption, users may experience issues including "abnormal candlestick charts", "failed order cancellations" and "delays in asset transfers for spot trading".

"We want to assure you that your assets on MEXC remain fully secure. For any losses incurred as a result of this platform-related issue, we will prepare a compensation plan to appropriately reimburse affected users," MEXC said.

(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh, Elizabeth Howcroft and Supantha Mukherjee; Editing by Amanda Cooper)