Upbit halts Cosmos ATOM for chain upgrade

South Korean exchange Upbit will pause Cosmos ATOM deposits and withdrawals from May 20 to support a network upgrade.

Upbit announced the temporary halt via an official notice to users, stating the pause begins at 6:00 a.m. UTC on May 20. No specific end time has been provided. Services will resume once the Cosmos network upgrade is complete and the blockchain is confirmed stable. 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 into and withdrawals from the exchange are suspended. Users who need to move ATOM should complete transfers before the May 20 deadline.

Why transfers pause during chain upgrades

Suspending deposits and withdrawals during a protocol upgrade is standard practice across major exchanges. If an exchange’s node software operates on an old version while external wallets run on a new one, incoming transactions can become irreconcilable, resulting in lost or permanently delayed funds.

Pausing transfers eliminates that risk until the exchange’s infrastructure is updated and verified against the upgraded chain.

The pause arrives at a difficult moment for the Cosmos ecosystem. In January, Anoma co-founder Christopher Goes warned that Cosmos was nearing its 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 Cosmos Hub integration in an effort to consolidate liquidity and governance. Upbit is South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, and its decisions around token support have repeatedly driven significant short-term price moves in listed assets.