On October 2, tens of thousands of Bank of America customers experienced a network outage, leaving many unable to access their accounts or seeing a $0 balance, which let the call for decentralizing finance. The issues, which began around 4:26 pm UTC, peaked with nearly 18,000 customers reporting problems within 15 minutes, according to Downdetector.
Approximately 98% of the complaints were tied to the bank’s mobile and online banking services. While Bank of America has yet to release a public statement, it reportedly told CNN the outages had “largely been resolved.” However, some users disputed this claim.
“Everyone is saying it’s fixed, it’s not!!” one user, Corey, wrote on Downdetector. Another, Buff Barnaby, added, “Still not fixed been out at least EIGHT hours!”
Many customers expressed frustration, with some even humorously noting the irony of their balances showing $0, yet their debts remained. “My money is gone but conveniently my debt is still there. Bank of America sucks,” one user, Anchor Baby, commented on X.
In-branch services were also affected, as one customer reported that deposits and withdrawals were not being processed. While some ATMs allowed withdrawals, balances were not displayed.
The incident has fueled calls for decentralization, with many Bitcoin enthusiasts pointing to the event as proof of the need for self-custody of funds. Bitcoin has not experienced a network outage since March 2013, unlike traditional banks and some blockchains, like Solana, which have faced multiple disruptions this year.
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