Binance has once again paused bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals due to the unprecedented congestion on the Bitcoin network. This marks the second time in one day that the exchange has had to pause withdrawals.
The first pause lasted for approximately two hours on Sunday afternoon U.S. time, as the number of unconfirmed transactions surged to a record high. The second pause, which occurred on Sunday evening U.S. time, also lasted for just over two hours.
Binance has adjusted its fees to prevent similar occurrences in the future, and the exchange’s team is currently working on enabling BTC Lightning Network withdrawals to help alleviate congestion.
At the time of the second pause, the number of unconfirmed transactions was approaching 500,000, up from around 400,000 when the first pause occurred. The number has since declined and is currently just over 430,000 over a 12-hour period.
Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin continues to decline and is currently at $27,905, down 2.6% in the last 24 hours. According to CoinGecko data, Binance has also slid significantly in its position for bitcoin trading volume and is no longer in the top 10 exchanges for bitcoin trading pairs.