Some Coinbase users have been unable to transact on the platform, while others experienced slower service after an AWS overheating incident disrupted operations.
Coinbase has assured customers that their funds remain secure, but at the time of writing many users were still encountering failed access attempts and transaction delays.
What Happened
According to the Coinbase status page, the incident was first noticed at approximately 18:06 PDT on May 7. The company acknowledged that some customers were unable to execute transactions and said its team was investigating the problem and would share updates as they became available.
Several minutes later, Coinbase reported identifying the cause of the degraded performance as an AWS outage, and reiterated that customer funds were safe.
Coinbase then said it had begun the process to re-enable trading across its markets. Until full trading was restored, all markets were set to “Cancel Only” mode. Prior to the broader impact, the exchange had already reported issues affecting Solana sends and receives and delays with ALEO transactions.
Context Behind the Outage
Observers on social media noted the outage occurred shortly after Coinbase announced a 14% reduction in its global workforce, a move the company attributed to crypto market volatility and the increasing role of artificial intelligence in its operations.
CEO Brian Armstrong has stated that AI enables smaller teams to accomplish tasks that previously required more personnel.
Relying on third-party cloud providers like AWS is common for large crypto exchanges, but outages of this duration highlight the operational risks that come with such dependencies.
For affected users, the immediate concerns are access to accounts and delays in transactions. Coinbase’s status updates and public statements aim to provide transparency about root causes and recovery steps, but incidents tied to cloud infrastructure can prompt broader conversations about redundancy, contingency planning and the balance between cost, efficiency and resilience.
As Coinbase worked to restore normal service, users were advised to monitor the official status page for the latest information and to contact customer support if they experienced ongoing issues with account access or pending transactions.