TLDR
- Amazon Web Services cloud failure on October 20, 2025 knocked Coinbase offline for most of the day
- Outage affected crypto platforms, banks, streaming services, and social media worldwide
- AWS malfunction began Monday morning and lasted until 6 p.m. Eastern time
- Millions of websites depend on AWS infrastructure for cloud computing services
- Amazon confirmed full recovery by Monday evening with all systems operational
Coinbase went offline on October 20, 2025 due to a massive Amazon Web Services outage. The cloud computing failure affected the crypto exchange along with hundreds of other platforms worldwide.
The disruption started early Monday morning and continued for most of the day. Users attempting to access Coinbase found the platform unavailable during active trading hours.
AWS provides the underlying infrastructure for millions of websites and applications. The outage revealed how many services rely on a single cloud provider.
Widespread Disruption Across Industries
The AWS failure impacted more than just crypto platforms. Banking services including Lloyds, Bank of Scotland, and Halifax experienced access problems.
Popular apps like Snapchat, Coinbase, Roblox, and Zoom went dark during the outage. Streaming service Hulu and payment platform Venmo also stopped working.
Starbucks customers could not place mobile orders through the app. Even HMRC, the UK tax authority, faced service interruptions.
The outage demonstrated the extent of AWS market dominance in cloud computing. Government agencies, universities, and major corporations all use the service.
The Associated Press reported being among the organizations affected. Businesses across every sector experienced downtime during the incident.
Timeline of Recovery Efforts
AWS acknowledged the problem approximately three hours after it began. The company posted updates on its health status dashboard throughout the day.
Amazon engineers worked to identify the source of the malfunction. The company determined the issue originated in its cloud computing division.
Downdetector showed thousands of user reports for AWS problems. The reports tracked the scale of the disruption in real time.
Cybersecurity expert Mike Chapple provided insight into the recovery process. He stated that slow, bumpy recoveries are typical for outages of this magnitude.
AWS began restoring services gradually throughout the afternoon. Different platforms came back online at varying times during the recovery.
The company announced full resolution by 6 p.m. Eastern time. AWS confirmed that all services had returned to normal operations.
Crypto traders faced hours without access to Coinbase accounts. The timing coincided with regular trading hours in multiple time zones.
Financial services customers struggled to access banking platforms during business hours. The disruption affected personal and business transactions.
Entertainment platforms remained down for most of the day. Users of streaming and gaming services had no access during the outage.
Companies began calculating losses from the extended downtime. The incident raised questions about dependence on centralized cloud infrastructure.
AWS infrastructure supports operations for countless global organizations. The service handles computing tasks for websites, apps, and enterprise systems.
Amazon resolved all technical problems by Monday evening. The company confirmed normal operations across its entire cloud network by the end of October 20, 2025.