Major crypto exchanges face temporary disruptions from AWS outage as SEC delays key decisions on Ether ETFs and staking.

A significant AWS outage has rattled cryptocurrency exchanges, while the SEC kicks another critical crypto decision down the road amid Bitcoin trading just under $85,000.

In a shocking turn of events that rocked the crypto world, Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a power outage at one of its data centers located in the Asia-Pacific region around 3:40 a.m. Eastern time on April 15. The disruption forced major exchanges to take drastic measures.

The outage affected both Binance and Kucoin, in which Binance also announced a temporary suspension of withdrawals that caused many traders to become unable to access their funds. After the issue was resolved, the exchanges scrambled to restore operations while assuring users their assets remained secure.

“This kind of infrastructure vulnerability exposes the fragility still present in crypto’s underlying systems,” industry observers note. “While Bitcoin has grown significantly, the ecosystem still heavily relies on centralized services, which can fail during critical moments.”

In a decision that surprised few on Wall Street, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Wednesday it was postponing decisions over Ether ETF staking. The notice pushed the deadline to June 1, specifically impacting Grayscale’s request to permit staking for its Ether ETFs.

While Bitcoin ETFs have attracted record inflows, Ether-focused funds have failed to gain any meaningful traction with investors. Many industry insiders believe the absence of staking rewards is the primary culprit behind this lackluster performance.

“I think Ether ETFs are going to hit some numerically interesting numbers once staking is approved,” a prominent crypto analyst suggested. “Now, obviously, I’m not saying it’ll match Bitcoin’s performance, but we’ll likely see a massive surge in interest from institutional investors who’ve been sitting on the sidelines.”

The SEC also pushed back another critical deadline to June 3 regarding in-kind creations and redemptions for certain spot Bitcoin ETFs. If approved, this mechanism would enable authorized participants to exchange fund shares directly for Bitcoin instead of cash, potentially creating a more efficient market.

Crypto markets remained mixed throughout the turbulent day. Bitcoin traded just under $85,000 by noon Eastern time, down slightly from yesterday. Ether hovered around $1,620, and Binance’s BNB token held steady at approximately $585.

As of writing, bitcoin is priced just under $85,000, as markets digest these developments while keeping an eye on future regulatory decisions.