Binance re-opens bitcoin withdrawals after brief suspension, blames ‘severe network congestion’

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has re-opened bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals after a 1-hour suspension, the latest data on May 7 shows.

Binance halts BTC withdrawals

Binance said they were halting withdrawals on the Bitcoin network due to what they describe as “severe congestion”.

Despite taking this unpopular step, they said their technical team was working hard behind the scenes to create a short-term fix for the problem. Binance remained optimistic that the network would stabilize, allowing for quick and low-cost transactions on the Bitcoin network.

To further reassure their clients, Binance said all funds were safe, and clients need not fear.

The current congestion on Bitcoin could be due to the rising popularity of inscriptions that are similar to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It is even made worse by the recently released BRC-20 standard. The latest reports show that over 400,000 transactions are pending on the mempool. The number has ranged between 397K and 403K in the past hours.

Binance has since allowed BTC withdrawals an hour after halting transfers.

It is unclear whether the problem is solved since Mempool shows that unconfirmed transactions remain at over 400K. This means, despite Binance’s move, the Bitcoin network is congested.

The increasing inscriptions and BRC-20 tokens

Over 4.3m inscriptions have since been added and stored in Bitcoin through the Bitcoin Ordinals platform. Over the past few weeks, the number of inscriptions has steadily ris

The latest data from Dune analytics shows that roughly 320,000 inscriptions are added to Bitcoin blocks daily, a 16X rise from the early days.

The recent increase in inscriptions can be attributed to the rise of BRC-20, with some exchanges, including Binance, listing tokens complying with this standard. PEPE is one of the most trending BRC-20 tokens. Its market capitalization stands at over $1b.