You have layoffs and turn servers off. This isn't rocket surgery. They're skimming a ton of money off these trades every day, down time is a loss.
Re:Coinbase down for maintenance
by wonderwonder on Thursday December 07, 2017 @04:06PM
(#15874231)
The optics on "servers are down due to a massive spike in volume" are much better than "Coinbase had another round of layoffs today..."
Currently they are signing people up at a dramatic rate despite their server issues. If they start laying people off because they spun up to fast they could start a panic that would kill them.
They have to weigh all of this in when deciding on an infrastructure spend.
I would also like to think from a purely personal level that they don't want to hire and fire people like that as these are real people with real families involved.
It's a gamble no matter what, but moving too quickly or moving too slowly results in the company going under.
In that case, I think straddling the line of "overwhelmed when there is a big spike" is a good spot to be in all things consitered.