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Cloudflare, the web performance and security company, experienced a widespread outage around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, impacting multiple sites across the web.
“The Cloudflare team is aware of the current service issues and is working to resolve as quickly as possible,” the company tweeted around 3 a.m.
Popular platforms that use Cloudflare’s technology including Discord, Shopify, Grindr, Fitbit, and Peloton — along with popular crypto exchanges such as FTX, Bitfinex, and OKX — were among the companies affected by the outage.
By 4:08 a.m., Cloudflare tweeted again that the “incident has been resolved.”
Still, the outage impact on the crypto space raised concerns regarding the overall security of centralized cryptocurrency platforms, TechCrunch reported.
When FTX was down, it forced users to trade in a “post-only” mode, meaning an order could only be placed by a “maker” (someone who sets a price to buy or sell).
The incident furthers the debate between centralized versus decentralized exchanges. While centralized exchanges are monitored by regulators, some argue they are more susceptible to hackers due to a larger volume of traders.
Decentralized exchanges —which involve a direct transaction between users — still incorporate risk, but the assets are stored in the self-custodian wallets rather than on an entire platform. The scale of losses in crypto due to the Cloudflare outrage is still unclear.
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