Binance to Briefly Halt Deposits and Withdrawals for Select Tokens Ahead of Ethereum Network Upgrade

Crypto exchange Binance plans to briefly halt deposits and withdrawals for select tokens on May 7, starting at 09:45 (UTC), to accommodate the Ethereum network upgrade and hard fork, aiming for optimal user experience.

In a statement on Saturday, Binance said it will be suspending the deposits and withdrawals of tokens based on the following networks: “Ethereum (ETH), Arbitrum (ARB), Optimism (OP), zkSync Era (ZKSYNC), Base (BASE), Manta Network (MANTA), Starknet (STRK), Polygon (POL), Metis (METIS), Scroll (SCR), Cyber (CYBER), Metal DAO (MTL), Celo (CELO) and Worldcoin (WLD).”

This temporary suspension is to support the smooth execution of the Ethereum network upgrade and hard fork. According to the announcement, only deposits and withdrawals will be affected, while trading on the affected networks will remain operational throughout the period. Binance will be managing all technical aspects on behalf of its users.

The crypto exchange added that once everything is “deemed to be stable”, the deposits and withdrawals for the select tokens will begin.

Hard forks typically result in the creation of a separate blockchain that runs alongside the original one. All current nodes and miners must transition to the new chain. They are used to improve the functionality of the network, such as fixing security vulnerabilities, introducing new functionalities, upgrading the cryptocurrency’s core system, or undoing previous transactions.

The crypto exchange will also suspend the withdrawals and deposits for the Optimism and Metal DAO networks on May 9. Once the update is completed, withdrawals and deposits will begin automatically without additional announcements.

Previously, the crypto exchange has suspended the deposit and withdrawal functions across various networks to facilitate upgrades and hard forks. For example, transactions involving tokens on the THORChain (RUNE) network were paused on May 1 at 14:00 (UTC) to support a scheduled upgrade.

Similarly, on May 5, at around 06:00 (UTC), Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals for tokens on the IPTA network to accommodate its network enhancement and hard fork.