Crypto exchanges hit by Cloudflare web outage

An issue with Cloudflare, which provides key infrastructure for the internet, has brought several crypto exchanges to a halt.

Cloudfare, a content delivery network or CDN, confirmed via an update posted early on June 21 that it is experiencing “widespread issues” with its services and network.

A number of crypto exchanges — which rely on Cloudflare for distributed denial of service (DDOS) protection — have been hit by the outage.

FTX said in a tweet that its exchange and other sites “are going to be hard to access for many users,” adding that FTX markets are currently in “post-only” mode. Bitfinex and OKX also tweeted about the issue. 

This is not the first time that a Cloudfare outage has had knock-on effects in the crypto space. In July 2019, several major websites including Coinbase and CoinMarketCap were brought to a standstill by a similar outage.

At approximately 3 a.m. ET, Cloudfare said in its post that the issue “has been identified and a fix is being implemented.”

Beyond crypto, numerous other sites such as Discord, DoorDash and Social Blade have also been affected.

At 4:06 a.m. ET, Cloudflare said in its post that it had resolved the incident, and that all systems are once again operational. 

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About Author

Ryan Weeks is deals editor at the The Block, focused on fundraising, M&A and institutional trends in the crypto space, among other things. He is particularly interested in investigative work — so please send tips! Ryan previously worked at Financial News, Dow Jones as a fintech correspondent in London. Prior to that, he wrote for several different publications, including Sifted, AltFi and Wired. Beyond journalism, Ryan is a keen reader and writer. He enjoys all things active, especially running, rugby, climbing and tennis.