Bitfinex Cryptocurrency Exchange Undergoes Unexpected Maintenance

One of the top cryptocurrency exchanges in the world Bitfinex shocked various investors worldwide as it went offline for a couple of hours this June 5th. This news although shocking has not in any way affected the price of cryptos in the market as the world's leading crypto Bitcoin experienced a slight increase in value, now trading at $7,622. Although we do not fully know the cause of this attack, the only hint is that it is an extreme load of orders which could invariably mean a DDOS attack.

Image Source : https://www.bitfinex.com/

In a tweet that was posted on Twitter, the exchange explained the cause of the attack. The tweet reads; the cause of the attack has been identified, it went further to state that a DDOS attack was launched on their network immediately they started operations for the day. The tweet further reads that the previous attack which the network faced was caused by one of the network's infrastructure providers. This shut down that happened on the Bitfinex network came as a shock to many crypto enthusiasts and it frightens them as well as the last time something like this happened on the Bitfinex exchange, over 120,000 BTC tokens were lost on the exchange's network.

One major concern that has remained in the minds and heart of people is that of the trading of the Tether (USDT) on the Bitfinex exchange. For a period of time now, there have been widespread rumours that the exchange will shut down and if this thing happens, the Tether USDT token would become useless. Although these rumors persist, the exchange is still fully operational and there is no further skepticism concerning its operations or what so ever. Currently, the Bitfinex exchange is now the biggest trader of the Tether USDT token and for a period of time has decreased the number of fixed USDT token that are held in the exchange.

For a very long time, it has been revealed that centralized cryptocurrency exchanges happen to be one of the riskiest forms of saving cryptocurrencies. The Mt. Gox, the CoinCheck, the Bitfinex attack of 2016 are a few of the examples of cryptocurrency exchanges that have been hacked. Asides the DDOS attack, one other common attack is the 51% and also that of double spending. The attacks that have been made on these exchanges is why experts have advised users to always transfer their funds to their wallets immediately they purchase their tokens.

This shut down that lasted for a couple of hours has not stopped investors from making use of the exchange and it still happens to be one of the best out there. Also, this shut down has not affected the crypto market in any way as was expected by crypto experts. According to various sources, the crypto is back in operation meaning that users will be able to immediately begin trading and converting various cryptocurrencies. It is reported that there have been several attempts on this exchange prior to this shutdown, but the exchange has managed to remain secure and evade the attacks.