Coinbase Solana transactions delayed amid memecoin frenzy
Coinbase users complained of hours-long delays on Solana transactions as network congestion tied to US President Donald Trump’s Jan. 18 memecoin launch impacted the cryptocurrency exchange.
The crypto exchange’s “team is working hard on scaling our Solana infra now,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a Jan. 19 post on the X platform.
“Lots of Solana activity last few days, we were not anticipating this level of surge,” Armstrong added.
Solana users were experiencing network difficulties following the recent memecoin launches by Trump and his wife, Melania, ahead of the official presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
Coinbase’s CEO on Solana transaction delays. Source: Brian Armstrong
Coinbase’s delays appear to be at least partly independent of Solana’s, with some users saying the exchange’s settlement times lagged the blockchain network’s by hours. On Jan. 20, one X user described a 15-hour transaction delay on Coinbase.
“Coinbase is estimating 100 minutes for processing for USDC receives on Solana,” Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Solana infrastructure provider Helius, said in a Jan. 20 X post.
“To be clear, this has nothing to do with the chain,” Mumtaz said, referring to Solana.
“We are aware that some users may be experiencing delayed sends and receives on the Solana network. Buys, sells and fiat withdrawals/deposits are not affected. Our infrastructure team is working to resolve the issue,” a Coinbase representative told Cointelegraph.
Executives say Coinbase’s delays aren’t solely due to Solana. Source: Mert Mumtaz
Spike in activity
Trump’s advisory team launched the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin on Jan. 18 and the Official Melania (MELANIA) token on Jan. 19 on the Solana network, ahead of Trump’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
The memecoin launches brought significant trading volume to Solana, reportedly causing congestion on the network.
Moonshot, the platform Trump pointed his followers to for purchasing the memecoin, reported more than 200,000 new onchain users since the token launched. Coinbase is the US’s most popular crypto retail exchange.
Despite the reported congestion errors and some transactions failing, Solana has boasted 100% uptime in the past 90 days, with no outage since Feb. 6, 2024, according to data from Solana’s status page.
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