Coinbase CEO Says Working to Fix Solana Transaction Issues

Brian Armstrong, the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase, the largest American crypto exchange, has urged exchange users to remain calm after numerous complaints and issues with transacting with the Solana network on the platform.

In a tweet responding to pseudonymous crypto trader Ansem’s complaint about the Solana transaction issues, Armstrong stated that the Coinbase team is currently working on fixing the challenges and scaling the internal Solana infrastructure.

The Coinbase CEO mentioned that the team did not anticipate the high Solana activity witnessed over the last few days, so they were unprepared for the surge in transactions.

What Caused The Issues?

The primary reason for the surge in Solana transaction activity is the launch of the United States President Donald Trump’s memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP), over the weekend. Trump launched TRUMP on Friday night on Solana, and the token surged through the roof within hours.

Official Trump’s parabolic surge attracted a lot of capital, with market participants scrambling to get a piece of the cake. As more investors tried to buy TRUMP, Solana’s transaction count increased. Since Coinbase’s infrastructure was not strong enough to handle that activity level, Solana deposits and withdrawals via the exchange slowed down.

Ansem stated in his tweet that he would no longer be using Coinbase until the issues with Solana’s transaction times are fixed. The comment section of the tweet is filled with other traders complaining about their deposits and withdrawals taking hours and way longer than necessary.

Traders Bash Coinbase

Some market participants have bashed Armstrong for saying that the Coinbase team is scaling the Solana infrastructure because, according to them, these issues resurface now and then, especially during this bull season. 

“I’ve been waiting 15 hours for a small USDC Solana transfer to a wallet. This is a terrible failure for the largest crypto company in America,” stated one Thomas Paine Band. 

Interestingly, Coinbase users laid similar complaints in March 2024 during the first wave of the bull triggered by the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. They experienced Solana transaction delays for days until the surge died down.

Meanwhile, the latest incident triggered a response from Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of the Cardano network. He insisted that the Cardano Leios upgrade and Hydra could handle the transaction surges affecting Coinbase, a layer-2 scaling solution for the network.