Coinbase, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume, encountered a significant outage on May 14, disrupting its services for several hours. The exchange reported a system-wide outage that lasted approximately three hours, starting at 4:19 am UTC. It was not until 7:34 am UTC that Coinbase was able to fully restore its operations.

Although Coinbase has assured users that its systems are back to normal, some individuals are still encountering difficulties with withdrawals and transfers. Despite the exchange's announcement, numerous users have reported ongoing issues, many of which were still unable to withdraw or transfer their assets.

While the exact cause of the outage remains undisclosed, Coinbase has pledged to continue investigating the incident to determine the root cause. Such service disruptions and withdrawal problems on centralized exchanges can significantly undermine mainstream users' trust in the cryptocurrency industry, as these platforms are often the entry point for individuals venturing into digital asset investments due to their user-friendly interfaces.

Compared to centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have lower trading volumes. On May 14, DEXs accumulated approximately $585 million in global trading volume, which pales in comparison to the $4.6 billion trading volume recorded by centralized exchanges during the same period. The reliance on centralized exchanges by mainstream users amplifies the impact of system outages and technical difficulties.