Users Alerted: Crypto Giant Prepares for Potential Saturday and Sunday Outages

This weekend, users of the prominent US-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, can expect some temporary hiccups due to a scheduled system upgrade. The maintenance, set to occur on Saturday, May 23, is anticipated to last around 30 minutes. Although trading activities will remain unaffected, users may encounter delays in receiving updates on their order status across various markets. The exchange has assured its users that it will keep them informed about the progress of the upgrade.

Such upgrades are a common occurrence in the cryptocurrency space and usually do not raise significant concerns. For instance, in October of the previous year, Coinbase experienced a brief outage due to a similar system upgrade, and no major issues were reported. More recently, the exchange faced a disruption earlier this month when some users were unable to complete transactions, while others experienced slower service speeds. This issue was caused by an overheating problem at Amazon Web Services (AWS), which was swiftly addressed by the Coinbase team.

The recent staff reduction of 14% at Coinbase, announced by CEO Brian Armstrong, has also garnered significant attention. Armstrong cited the ongoing market volatility and the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the primary reasons behind this decision. Some users took to social media to note that the outage occurred shortly after the announcement of the staff cuts.

In other news, Coinbase has been making headlines with its recent collaboration with Hyperliquid, becoming the official treasury deployer of $USDC under the Aligned Quote Asset (AQA) framework. As part of this partnership, Coinbase will be responsible for handling $USDC liquidity, thereby enhancing the protocol's on-chain financial operations. Additionally, both Coinbase and Circle have agreed to stake HYPE tokens to support the activation of AQAv2, the next upgrade to the AQA on the decentralized exchange.

Furthermore, Coinbase has been engaged in delisting efforts, with six non-USD trading pairs being removed from its platform last week. This included pairs such as $ICP/USDT and $ICP/GBP, which led to a 10% decline in the price of Internet Computer, bringing it down to just under $3. The asset has failed to recover and has continued to post losses, currently trading near $2.50.