Bithumb has announced the suspension of KAVA trading, deposits, and withdrawals starting at 6:00 PM KST (9:00 AM UTC) on February 25.
The move is tied to a scheduled upgrade for the Kava Network, which is set to take place at block height 13,500,000. Bithumb stated that the suspension is a precautionary measure to ensure user asset safety during the network’s technical overhaul. Trading will resume once stability is confirmed post-upgrade.
Kava.io is a DeFi platform operating within the Cosmos network, with its native cryptocurrency, KAVA, serving governance and staking functions. KAVA was trading at $0.4098 as of press time, a 5.07% decrease in the past 24 hours.
Bithumb’s suspension affects all KAVA-related services, including spot trading, deposits, and withdrawals. The exchange has not provided a timeline for resumption but has advised users to stay updated on further announcements.
The Kava Network, a Layer-1 blockchain in the Cosmos ecosystem, combines Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities with Cosmos’ high-throughput infrastructure to support DeFi applications. Launched in 2019 through Binance Launchpad, Kava has processed over $3 billion in transactions and currently holds over $120 million in total value locked, per DeFiLlama data. The network boasts over 200,000 active users.
The upcoming upgrade is designed to enhance scalability, introduce new cross-chain functionalities, and lay the groundwork for AI-driven DeFi tools—an initiative referenced in its DeAI lightpaper which was published in January 2025. The process will temporarily halt block production, requiring coordination with exchanges like Bithumb.
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This is not the first time exchanges have taken such precautions. In November 2024, Binance paused KAVA transactions during a previous upgrade at block height 12,800,000, resuming services within hours once network stability was restored.
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