Bitcoin Crashes as Major Exchange Temporarily Halts All Withdrawals

Street Insider ^ | 02/07/2014

[SeekAndFind]

Virtual currency Bitcoin is under severe pressure Friday after major exchange Mt. Gox temporarily halted all withdrawals citing issue encountered by various other bitcoin withdrawals.

The price of bitcoin is currently down nearly 11% to $703 after trading down as much as 20% earlier.

Below is the Mt. Gox Statement:

Dear MtGox Customers,

In our efforts to resolve the issue being encountered by various bitcoin withdrawals, it was determined that the increase in the flow of withdrawal requests has hindered our efforts on a technical level. To understand the issue thoroughly, the system needs to be in a static state.

In order for our team to resolve the withdrawal issue it is necessary for a temporarily pause on all withdrawal requests to obtain a clear technical view of the current processes.

We apologize for the sudden short notice. All bitcoin withdrawal requests will be on pause, and the withdrawals in the system will be returned to your MtGox wallet and can be reinitiated once the issue is resolved. The trading platform will perform as usual for the needs of our customers. 



Our team will resolve this problem as soon as possible and will provide an update on Monday, February 10, 2014 (JST).



We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused, and thank you for your kind support and considerations. 


Sincerely,

The MtGox Team

[Errant]

Bitcoin drops sharply as Mt. Gox halts withdrawals

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3120352/posts

[Errant]

Click to be Added / Removed.

[Paladin2]

Being on the bleeding edge has its fun moments.

[Dutchboy88]

Okay, wait a minute...this was supposed to be a stabilized, non-governmentally manipulated truly free-market perfect alternative to the nasty old $. Here it just behaves like all the other barter systems. Oops.

[Slyfox]

When I think of bit coin why do I think of this?

[Errant]

Yep. lol Not bad though for miners who get a small stipends from all of the transaction activity.

[Errant]

What you're seeing is the market reacting to the Mt. Gox exchange having issues with moving bitcoin to fiat. Not all Mt. Gox's fault btw. The governments have been causing them problems with regulation, shutting down bank lines in the U.S. and etc.

Adjustments here and there is what the free market is all about. Better to adjust than an eventual collapse - the danger we're facing with the world economy brought about by an artificial market and government manipulation.

Scandal: Bank Of England Encouraged Currency Manipulation By Banks

[Zuben Elgenubi]

to obtain a clear technical view of the current processes . . .

... that originate in Belarus.

[Justa]

[FatherofFive]

Funny. Monopoly money has more intrinsic value.

[Yo-Yo]

And it continues with the new $100 bill.

[nitzy]

When I think of bit coin why do I think of this?

Because you understand neither Bitcoin nor money.

Money is an agreement between people.

When you are playing monopoly you agree with the other players to deal with each other in Monopoly money. If you were to bring Federal Reserve Notes or gold bars to the game table, they would in no way help you win the game.

If you bring Monopoly money to McDonalds they may or may not accept it depending on the value that each of you ascribed to a certain quantity of them. They may actually be in the middle of one of their Monopoly promotions and decide trading you a hamburger for a couple thousand Monopoly bills would be a good way to secure supplies for the promotion.

Doing this on a large scale would be a tricky proposition though because people could find cheaper and cheaper way of printing their own Monopoly money. It would not be a viable long term means of enabling transactions.

Bitcoin on the other hand has many safe guards built into it to make it more stable than Monopoly money.

The real test of a currency is to judge it's potential stability against the entire market long term. Not just comparing it to one other currency or one other commodity. THE WHOLE MARKET.

When you compare the stability of Federal Reserve Notes against THE WHOLE MARKET for the past 50 years, what does that tell you about it's stability? Seems to me one Federal Reserve Note doesn't buy as much gasoline or gold or lead as it did in 1963. That is not very stable if you ask me.

Bitcoin is designed in a way to prevent what has happened to the Federal Reserve Notes.

Millions of people around the world are mutually ascribing value to Bitcoin by agreeing with each other to deal with one another through that medium because they see it as a better currency.

[grania]

oops

Not to worry. I'm sure that FDIC insurance will cover it. (sarcasm)

[Slyfox]

You have no sense of humor.

[Nifster]

you MUST use what we tell you to use

[M Kehoe]

Good afternoon.

Could it be an attack? Since every Bitcoin order/sale/purchase has to be verified by computer computation by all Bitcoin miners/owners, it might be a denial of service.

Just a swag.

5.56mm

[Errant]

Could it be an attack?

Their site is up, so I wouldn't think it is an attack. Guessing it's an issue with sending money, or a problem with cash flow, etc. but it could just be a problem with their software.

[Errant]

Interesting:

Gold, Silver And The Gathering Crypto Currency Storm

[catnipman]

“When I think of bit coin why do I think of this? “

Excepting that the value of Monopoly money is more stable than bitcoin, not to mention you can actually put Monopoly money in your pocket.