Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, announced that a widespread outage on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Thursday left users unable to access trading services for several hours. The Nasdaq-listed company confirmed that both its web and mobile trading platforms were unavailable throughout the incident.
AWS infrastructure failure disrupts crypto trading
A critical infrastructure failure at AWS’s East Region data centers in Virginia, which affected multiple availability zones, resulted in a major disruption of Coinbase’s core cryptocurrency trading operations. Coinbase stated, “Our systems are designed to withstand outages in a single region, but in this case, the event affected multiple AWS regions, causing extended instability in our main trading services.”
In response to the breakdown, trading was temporarily limited to “cancel only” mode before all services gradually returned to normal. On Friday, the company posted on X (formerly Twitter) to confirm the resolution, noting that a detailed review of the incident was still underway. Coinbase stated that further updates would follow once Amazon publishes its official report on the outage.
“This underlying issue is now fully resolved. Thank you for your patience. As our investigation continues and AWS publishes their retrospective, details may evolve.”
User backlash and previous outages
The outage was met with criticism not only from crypto investors but also from the broader tech community. Software engineer Gergely Orosz, who previously held roles at companies like Uber and Skype, highlighted on social media that the downtime coincided with a period where Coinbase is already struggling with financial and staffing challenges.
Coinbase has previously experienced short-term access issues during periods of intense market volatility. Notably, in 2020, when Bitcoin’s price fell by 10 percent in just thirty minutes—plummeting from $9,500 to $8,100—Coinbase faced a similar outage, while other major U.S. exchanges like Kraken remained fully operational. A comparable disruption had also occurred one week earlier during rapid shifts in the Bitcoin market.
Financial fallout and new layoffs
The widely used platform has recently faced mounting pressure from declining trading volume, disappointing first-quarter financial results, and ongoing layoffs. Most recently, Coinbase reported first quarter 2026 revenue of $1.41 billion with a per-share loss of $1.49. Analysts had expected $1.52 billion in revenue and earnings of $0.27 per share. Following the announcement, Coinbase shares lost over 5 percent in after-hours trading.
CEO Brian Armstrong announced on May 5 that Coinbase would reduce its workforce by 14 percent, affecting roughly 660 employees. Armstrong cited difficult market conditions and the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence as key reasons behind the decision, emphasizing the need for the company to adapt quickly in both areas.
At this stage, Coinbase not only faces a major technical failure affecting only its own systems but also continues to grapple with operational hurdles and a depressed crypto market.
Since its founding in 2012, Coinbase has grown into one of the world’s most prominent crypto trading platforms. The company is notable as a publicly listed exchange under U.S. regulatory oversight, and it aims to maintain industry leadership despite recurring technical challenges.
