Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by reported trading volumes, has temporarily suspended withdrawals of Ethereum and Ethereum-based tokens.
Its Twitter announcement cites congestion as the reason behind the suspension.
The exchange assures its users that their funds are safe, promising to provide updates:
Rest assured funds are #SAFU and we apologize for any inconvenience caused. Updates to follow.
Ethereum's scaling issues come to a head
Earlier today, Ethereum spiked to a new all-time high of $1,952, but its lack of scaling threatens its dominance in the decentralized finance sector.
The renewed congestion problems come amid the rapid growth of Binance Smart Chain (BSC) in the DeFi space. It is thriving off of Ethereum's inability to bring down the exorbitant cost of fees.
Earlier today, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, urged leading Ethereum-based DEX Uniswap to move to BSC.
Recently, Uniswap was surpassed by BSC-based PancakeSwap, according to CoinGecko data.
UPDATE: Binance resumed the withdrawals at 1:52 p.m. UTC.
Vladislav Sopov