Crypto exchange OKX encountered a major technical glitch that led to display errors in account balances.
The incident confused users, with some accounts showing zero balances while others inexplicably soared to tens of millions of dollars. The problem affected thousands of users across various regions, including Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Japan. OKX has since resolved the issue, assuring users of the platform’s integrity and the safety of their assets.
A user’s message on OKX’s Telegram channel
The exchange’s Rest API crashed. Representational State Transfer APIs allow developers to connect to external services and access or manipulate resources using standard HTTP requests.
In a cryptocurrency exchange like OKX, the Rest API would typically enable users and third-party applications to perform actions such as querying account balances, executing trades, and retrieving market data.
This issue has been resolved. Thank you for your patience. If you are still seeing anomalies, please reach out to @OKXHelpdesk. https://t.co/SJvZm43bwA
— OKX (@okx) March 27, 2024
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When such an API crashes, interactions encounter errors or fail to complete as intended. Users could be unable to access account information, see incorrect data, or experience failures when attempting to execute trades.
The incident places OKX among a growing list of exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, and BitMex, that have experienced technical difficulties amid the current bull market’s surging traffic. Coinbase has faced three crashes in recent times, with several users seeing their balances drop to zero.
Similarly, Binance users in specific regions briefly lost access due to a crash, and BitMex witnessed a flash crash of Bitcoin earlier in the month. A large sell order worth $55.4 million drove Bitcoin’s price down to $8,900 on BitMex, though the market quickly recovered.
Read more: Binance seeks new buyer for Russian business following CommEX closure