# Large Exchanges such as Coinbase and Bitstamp cracking under the pressure !



## MrEarl (13 Dec 2017)

Hi,

Some of the larger exchanges such as Bitstamp and Coinbase are proving unable to manage the level of new account requests, transfers in and out of their exchanges etc.

Time to get a bit more concerned about where your money is ?


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## fpalb (13 Dec 2017)

You always should be concerned, which is why I never leave much on an exchange. Struggling due to user overload doesn't necessarily affect security in any way though, especially for a well regulated exchange like coinbase but it might mean you can't sell at short notice so be careful of that.


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## Brendan Burgess (13 Dec 2017)

fpalb said:


> a well regulated exchange like coinbase



Hi fpalb

What sort of regulation? 

Who is the regulator? 

What protection does it offer? 

Brendan


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## ant dee (13 Dec 2017)

Does Coinbase have insurance for crypto funds too or just fiat holdings?


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## fpalb (13 Dec 2017)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Hi fpalb
> 
> What sort of regulation?
> 
> ...


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## Brendan Burgess (13 Dec 2017)

"If you are a United States resident, your Coinbase USD Wallet is covered by FDIC insurance, up to a maximum of $250,000."

Brendan


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## ant dee (13 Dec 2017)

Coinbase is also rolling out custodial services for institutional investors.
Lets see what other insurance they can offer to institutions and, more interestingly, which insurance company will cover them?


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## fpalb (13 Dec 2017)

Was curious if this was better or worse than paypal, seems for US customers coinbase is better as it at least has the FDIC insurance which paypal does not https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/does-it-cost-me-money-to-be-fdic-insured-faq3593

Am I right that neither paypal nor coinbase then have any insurance for euros they are acting as custodian for but at least coinbase has insurance for crypto holdings (no mention of that only applying to US customers)?

What kind of insurance do you typically have for an Irish stockbroker for example?


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## BreadKettle (13 Dec 2017)

Bitstamp is European based and fully regulated, licensed and insured. Exchanges struggling under intense traffic strain is nothing new.

Try not to leave any large amounts of funds in the hands of a third party.


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## fpalb (15 Dec 2017)

kraken writing about why they're struggling here: https://blog.kraken.com/post/1399/degraded-service-upgrade-next-week/

"The recent, unexpected explosion in demand has been overwhelming.  Each of the past few days has produced 50,000 new account registrations and 10,000 new support tickets — an order of magnitude above where we were just last quarter.  Concurrent users, daily trades and volumes are also hitting new all-time highs.  We are struggling to keep up."


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## landlord (15 Dec 2017)

I see this issue as severely inhibiting the recent Bitcoin rally. New potential buyers are falling at the first hurdle. From experience trying to open up accounts at 3 different exchanges recently, I can tell you that the account identity verification process has stalled. I have heard nothing back from the exchanges for 2 weeks. Others I know are having similar problems with the Coinbase identity verification process.


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## Firefly (15 Dec 2017)

fpalb said:


> Each of the past few days has produced 50,000 new account registrations



What do you think explains this sudden burst of account registrations?


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## fpalb (15 Dec 2017)

Firefly said:


> What do you think explains this sudden burst of account registrations?



FOMO mostly


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