Binance denies its tech issues were direct cause of Oct. 10 flash crash

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, stated in an official blog post on Jan. 31 that the market flash crash on Oct. 10 was the result of multiple combined factors that triggered cascading liquidations. The exchange clarified that while it experienced two technical incidents, these were not the direct cause of the market's sharp decline. Binance attributed the crash to a broader downturn in risk assets amid trade wars, risk management actions by market makers due to high volatility, liquidity disruptions from Ethereum network congestion, and excessive leverage. The exchange did acknowledge two technical issues at the time: a 33-minute performance degradation of its internal asset transfer function and index deviations for USDe, WBETH, and BNSOL. The statement follows growing criticism directed at Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao on X (formerly Twitter), prompting Zhao to announce he will host an AMA session to address the allegations.