This move came during what’s known as a period of intensified activity.
Following the move, withdrawal functionality has been restored, according to the company’s website, which previously indicated the withdrawal suspension during wallet maintenance for USDT. According to a customer service admin in Binance’s Telegram Channel (English-Language), the suspension came as a result of USDT network congestion.
Earlier on Monday, an administrator from the same channel said in a message that the maintenance was a result of network congestion. Though the administrator did not reveal when the problem would be fixed, he revealed that the company was trying to fix the issue as soon as possible. That was the second time that Binance users experienced an outage.
The exchange saw the suspension of USDT earlier in the day, despite the withdrawals briefly resuming at around 11:33 UTC. About 15 minutes later, the suspension took effect again. The exchange had earlier denied rumors that it was delisting USDT.
In a tweet published earlier on Monday, CEO and Founder of Binance Changpeng Zhao termed the rumors as a single case of a photoshopped announcement. When questioned by the press about the event, Zhao refused to comment on the case, saying that the company would inform the public about new developments after they are concluded.
According to earlier reports, USDT’s price has been dropping for 18 months in a row, trading at $0.925 by Monday morning. The drop seems to contradict a statement that has been long-standing on Tether’s website. The statement claims that every USDT is equal to 1 USD.
Before the suspension, the exchange’s Bitcoin - USDT pair was trading at the high value of $7,680, which is above the average global price. The pair was trading roughly at $6,520 at press time.
According to the wallet rich-list, published on Tether.to, Binance remains the biggest holder of USDT tokens, holding more than 768 million in its reserves. The company behind the digital coin, Tether, comes second on the list, holding more than 486 million tokens.