South Korean exchange Upbit will suspend Cosmos ATOM deposits and withdrawals starting May 20 to support a network upgrade.
Summary
- The suspension begins at 6:00 UTC on May 20 and will remain in effect until the Cosmos network upgrade is completed and stability is confirmed.
- ATOM trading on Upbit is expected to continue as normal throughout the suspension window.
- Exchanges regularly pause transfers during chain upgrades to avoid transaction failures caused by version incompatibilities between nodes.
Upbit announced the temporary shutdown via an official notice to users, stating that the pause begins at 6:00 UTC on May 20. No specific end time was provided. Services will resume once the Cosmos network upgrade is complete and blockchain stability is confirmed. Existing ATOM balances on the platform are not affected.
ATOM trading on Upbit is expected to remain active during the maintenance window, meaning users can still buy and sell the token against fiat and crypto pairs. Only deposits and withdrawals from the exchange are suspended. Users who need to move ATOM must complete the transfers by the May 20 deadline.
Why transfers stop during channel upgrades
Suspending deposits and withdrawals during a protocol upgrade is a common practice on major exchanges. If an exchange’s node software is running on an old version while external wallets are running on a newer one, incoming transactions may become irreconcilable, resulting in a permanent loss or delay of funds.
Suspending transfers eliminates this risk until the exchange infrastructure is updated and verified against the upgraded chain.
The break comes at a difficult time for the Cosmos ecosystem. In January, Anoma co-founder Christopher Goes warned that Cosmos was coming to an end, citing high operating costs and the departure of several major projects from the ecosystem.
Osmosis separately proposed converting its OSMO token to ATOM and deepening the integration of Cosmos Hub with the aim of consolidating liquidity and governance. Upbit is South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and its decisions regarding token support have repeatedly led to large short-term price swings of listed assets.
