AWS Outage Disrupts Binance, KuCoin, and MEXC Services; Withdrawals Resumed

A major outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) on April 15 caused widespread disruptions across several centralized exchanges, including Binance, KuCoin, and MEXC.

The unexpected downtime affected at least 12 AWS services and forced many platforms to pause withdrawals, citing technical issues with their cloud provider.

In a public status update, AWS confirmed the issue, stating, “We are seeing initial signs of recovery but continue to monitor and work toward full recovery.” The company added that other impacted services were also gradually coming back online.

Binance Flags Issue First, Kucoin and Mexc Follow

Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, was quick to alert users about the disruption. “We are aware of an issue impacting some services on the Binance platform due to a temporary network interruption in the AWS data center,” the exchange posted on X.

While some transactions were processed during the outage, others failed, prompting Binance to advise users to retry their orders.

We are aware of an issue impacting some services on the #Binance platform due to a temporary network interruption in the AWS data center.
Some orders are still successful, but some are failing. If users failed, they may keep retrying.

Our team is working closely with AWS to…

— Binance (@binance) April 15, 2025

Shortly after the initial alert, Binance confirmed most services had resumed and withdrawals were reopened. However, users still reported issues with trading speed and access. “Some features may continue to operate slowly during system recovery,” Binance added.

Following Binance’s lead, KuCoin also reported being hit by the same AWS issue. “A large-scale network outage with AWS services” caused disruptions across KuCoin’s platform, the exchange said in a statement.

MEXC faced similar technical hiccups, including abnormal candlestick charts, order cancellation failures, and transfer delays. Despite the problems, MEXC assured users that all funds were safe and futures trading remained unaffected. The exchange also promised a compensation plan for affected users.

Dear MEXCer,

We are sorry to inform you that due to a service disruption with AWS, some users may currently experience issues on the MEXC App and Web platform, including：

🔹Abnormal candlestick charts
🔹Failed order cancellations
🔹Delays in asset transfers for spot trading…

— MEXC (@MEXC_Official) April 15, 2025

A Centralized Wake-Up Call for a Decentralized Industry

As frustrated users took to X to voice their concerns, the incident sparked a bigger conversation about the crypto industry’s dependence on centralized infrastructure.

This is precisely why decentralized cloud computing is the key to avoiding these disruptions, offering a more resilient alternative for crypto exchanges ft. @AethirCloud 💚

— Nishit Mehrotra (💚,☁️) (@0xNicky) April 15, 2025

Bitget CEO Gracy Chen echoed that sentiment, saying the incident should push the industry to reconsider its reliance on centralized cloud services.

“AWS data center issues impacted several CEXs — no need to panic,” she said. “But it’s a solid reminder: Maybe it’s time to explore decentralized cloud services.”

AWS data center issues impacted several CEXs—no need to panic. But it’s a solid reminder: maybe it’s time to explore decentralized cloud services. 🔄 #Decentralization #DePIN https://t.co/9DbOd3ADnK

— Gracy Chen @Bitget (@GracyBitget) April 15, 2025

Projects like Aleph Cloud, Filecoin, Akash Network, and Render Network are among the decentralized solutions being eyed as potential alternatives.

While these platforms offer promising tools for cloud storage, computing, and GPU-based processing, they’ve yet to see widespread adoption in the crypto exchange space.

Still, with outages like this one exposing the vulnerabilities of centralized setups, the call for a decentralized backbone may only grow louder.