Coinbase blocks Bitcoin Cash withdrawals, investors suffer losses

Coinbase continues to keep investor funds still locked up as it waits for "stability" on the BCH network and prices continue to spike, bankrupting traders.

Many major crypto platforms, including Binance, Huobi and Kraken, opened deposits for users, but Coinbase blocked investor funds.

 The company explains that this decision was made in order to protect customers from volatile price fluctuations and uncertainty on the network. However, since the hard fork occurred, Bitcoin Cash (now the BCHABC network on most major exchanges) has fallen by almost 40%, and investors have suffered serious losses, unable to use their assets at such a critical time in the market. The overall situation is becoming increasingly tense. 

Even though Coinbase was a leader in the digital currency space, the exchange left users in the lurch for days as their portfolios literally melted away before their eyes. While a second chain listing is undoubtedly risky, failure to reactivate the trade completely will cost traders far more than the risks of trading BSV.

The Coinbase team is in no rush to resolve the situation. Its communication with users has so far been limited to one tweet saying that the crypto exchange has no control over the situation and assets will be locked until they stabilize and the company will not give up its decision.

In fact, this is a fairly strict decision that does not allow Coinbase customers to put their assets at risk, even if it means they will lose a lot of money. However, the stability of the BCH network is very questionable at a time when both Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCH ABC) and Bitcoin Cash Satoshi Vision (BCH SV) are fighting over hash control. 

On the one hand, Coinbase is a regulated company and could face serious legal problems if it allows its users to trade and they lose money due to technical glitches or lack of protection against replaying transactions.

On the other hand, while centralization can prevent traders from managing their funds, decentralization means that the user must be responsible for their network.. Claims like Craig Wright's about an impending attack on Bitcoin ABC cannot go unpunished in the crypto space, although to date Wright bears little to no responsibility for the chaos he has created and maintained in the market.

We can only hope that the BCH community can sort out its problems.