Bitcoin’s Oldest Exchange, Now in Shambles, Suspends Payouts
It was once the only serious bitcoin exchange on the internet. But now, just a year later, Japan’s Mt. Gox is in shambles.
U.S. regulators have seized more than $5 million of the company’s money. Customers report month-long delays in getting their U.S. dollars out of the exchange. And now a technical glitch has prevented the exchange from paying out in bitcoins too, effectively locking away customer assets until further notice.
Early Friday morning, Mt. Gox said it needed to suspend Bitcoin payouts in order to fix a technical glitch in its trading platform. The company promised an update on Monday, but didn’t explain exactly what the issue was. Over the past week, complaints about Mt. Gox’s bitcoin payout problems have gown louder as the queue of unfulfilled withdrawals has grown longer and longer.
The company’s situation shows that some of the earliest businesses to embrace the bitcoin digital currency are now struggling to adapt now that the technology is moving into the mainstream. As more and more people use bitcoin — and regulators begin to take notice — an outfit like Mt. Gox, which is run by computer geeks, not financial experts, has a tough row to hoe.
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2014/02/bitcoins-oldest-exchange/
