Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, is going through a scheduled system upgrade tomorrow. As it’s the largest exchange in the market, this might open a window for external players to move the prices more easily.
Binance is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, and it is scheduled to undergo a systemwide update tomorrow, April 25th. The upgrade should take about 4 hours, and during this time, Binance will halt deposits, withdrawals, savings, redemptions, asset transfers from sub-accounts, as well as spot, margin, and P2P trading.
It’s worth noting that Binance Futures and options trading will remain readily available during the maintenance period.
Once the upgrade is completed, users will be given a 30-minute window to cancel their orders, process deposits, withdrawals, and handle all other account activities before trading is back to normal.
Per the official announcement, the update will include a new API endpoint that would allow users to delete open orders on specific symbols. Moreover, the orders could also be deleted through the API during a halt or break status.
While the maintenance time seems more than appropriate for the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, this might allow external players to move the prices more easily.
As the leading exchange by trading volume and userbase goes through its scheduled maintenance, it would become easier for larger players to move the market more easily.
As CryptoPotato has reported in the past, scheduled maintenances of major cryptocurrency exchanges present an excellent opportunity for Bitcoin whales to manipulate the price.
For example, last year, when another major exchange, Bitfinex, went offline for unscheduled maintenance, Bitcoin lost around $2,000 of its value. Needless to say, it was anyone’s guess whether or not Bitfinex’s downtime had anything to do with the sudden market drop, but the timing was undoubtedly questionable.
In any case, as Binance Futures won’t be affected by the maintenance, traders need to approach with caution. The official announcement urges users to be careful and responsible:
It is recommended that users with open Futures or Margin positions re-assess their collateral balances prior to the start of the upgrade to mitigate against price fluctuations that may occur during the upgrade period. – Reads the release.