Let's not talk about the issues that we have with Kraken.com - An online cryptocurrency exchange platform, because we all know the kind of trouble it has caused it's users in past.

Let me focus on their latest stunt. At around 5:00 hrs. UTC the site went offline for maintenance. This scheduled maintenance came at a time when a lot of new customers were having second thoughts about their brand new investment in the crypto market.

Past experiences have taught a lot of us of the tenaciousness of the cryptocurrency market. The veterans already know that bad media attention has a volatile FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) dump effect on the market. So when the misinformation of the situation in South Korea started to spread the dumping began, the only ones holding onto the coins for their dear lives were the veterans with guts of steel.

Holding on for dear life (aka HODLing) might be a norm for the veterans but a newbie is most certainly not used to the volatility of the crypto market. A lot people enter the crypto market thinking that they have read it all and thus they know it all, but when dumping begins and they see their savings dwindling faster than the taillight of a speeding McLaren............. Let’s just say that in those moments the end of times myth seems a lot truer.

So what happens to the newbie who checks his mobile phone for the coin prices only to find that his savings are diminishing at an alarming rate. He rushes home - opens his laptop - clicks on the browser window and tries to log onto his Kraken exchange account. B A M........ 'Kraken is presently offline for maintenance'.

I can only imagine this newbies panicking mind set, but I can assure of one thing. There is a good chance that Kraken has permanently ruined this newbie for the crypto market - and deprived him of a lot of potential future profits.

If this guy would have been able to take his money out of the market only to find that within a week the prices have not only recovered but have soared to new heights...

Now imagine this – The dumping begins and the guy finds his hard earned money locked in the jaws of the 'Kraken'. He wants his money out but can’t get it. He doesn’t sleep that night and goes to the office in haze of tension and stress in the morning. After suffering through the mental anguish of losing control over his savings at such a critical time I think that any normal person would just wait for the price recovery only to get out of the market ASAP.

I know that Websites need regular maintenance. My problem with Kraken.com is that it chose the wrong time to do so. We can all say that runners will always run away, even if a good opportunity is in front of them. To this I cannot help myself but disagree.

Cryptocurrency phenomenon might be ten years old but it is still an infant as compared to some of the financial giants of the world market. Those who have adopted the cryptos’ for some time now, already know that each new man in the market is a man worth having and kraken.com is not doing us any favors by scaring away the newbies.

(As of 23:33 UTC the website was still under maintenance)

Update - you can check the status of kraken exchange here:
https://status.kraken.com/incidents/nswthr1lyx72

Update - As of 14:30 UTC on 13th January 2018 Kraken is online again after a 50 hour hiatus