Bitcoin trading platform Mt. Gox suddenly closed

Tencent Science and Technology Hua February 26 reported one of the world's largest bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox in Tuesday, the company's CEO said the business was at a turning point, raising concerns about the future of the unregulated virtual currency. Several other digital currency trading platforms and well-known Bitcoin investors have issued strong statements reaffirming investors ' confidence in the reliability of Bitcoin and their security agreements. This Tuesday, Mt. Gox web site suddenly closed, and there is no explanation. The company's office in Tokyo, Japan, is empty, but it has focused on a number of protesters outside the building, claiming that they have suffered losses on their investment in Bitcoin. A few hours later, Mt. Gox CEO Mark Capres (Mark Karpeles) sent an e-mail to the media saying: we should make an official statement as soon as possible. At the moment we are at a turning point in business, and I cannot disclose more information at this time because the issue involves many parties. He did not elaborate and did not disclose where he was. As a means of payment, Bitcoin receives more and more, and attracts a number of large venture investment institutions. At present, the transaction price of Bitcoin is about $517, and the total value of Bitcoin in the market is about $6.4 billion. Investors store the bitcoin they buy in the digital wallet of a special trading agency, so Mt. Gox closure is the equivalent of a bank shutdown, and people cannot get their investment back. There is a MT on the Internet. Gox the crisis plan, the document says more than 744,000 Bitcoin disappeared, Mt. Gox $174 million trillion in debt and assets of $32.75 million. But the authenticity of this document, and the reference to Mt in the document. Gox's financial position cannot be confirmed. But if the file is true, it means that 6% of the 12.4 million bits have evaporated. A statement on the Bitcoin website said: In view of recent news reports and their potential impact on MtGox operations and markets, they decided to temporarily close all transactions to protect themselves and our users. We will follow the developments closely and respond accordingly. Bitcoin has attracted regulators ' attention to ensure consumer safety and prevent Bitcoin from becoming a money-laundering tool. Benjamin Lauski (Benjamin M. Lawsky), head of New York State Financial Services, said in a statement about Mt. All of Gox's news has not been clear, and developments show that targeted regulation will play an important role in protecting consumers and in the financial security of virtual money companies. Lawsky said last month that he planned to introduce rules on virtual currency trading. Security concerns earlier this month, Mt.Gox pointed out that it had detected unusual movements in bitcoin purses and had been conducting investigations over the past few weeks, suspending the user's presence. The move led to a drop in bitcoin prices to its lowest level in nearly two months. Even if something like this happened on the 7th of this month, Mt. GoxA month-old deal still exceeds other trading platforms. Bitcoin trading activity Tracking site Bitcoincharts data shows that in the past 30 days, Mt. Gox accepted more than 1 million bitcoin transactions, equivalent to 34% of the total transaction activity. Critics point out that Mt. Gox has been ignoring security issues. But there are also investors who say that despite the many problems they face, they are on Mt. Gox still has confidence. In a statement, the Bitcoin Foundation said that, as one of the many trading agencies, Mt. Gox's exit was unfortunate, but it opened up a door to opportunity. This incident demonstrates that the bitcoin sector requires responsible individuals and members to demonstrate reliable service. In terms of volume, the UK Bitstamp is the second largest Bitcoin trader. Bitstamp said on its website that it had reviewed its own system and found no similar problems. Similarly, BTC-E, another Bitcoin trader, has promised investors that there are no loopholes in its client transactions. The price fluctuation Bitcoin, like a roller coaster, rises and falls sharply, sometimes within a trading day, and its price varies greatly from one trading platform to another. The system that runs the Bitcoin is also the target of hackers. Before February 7, the Mt. Gox platform's bitcoin transaction price was $828.99, and the price fell to 135 U.S. dollars, down by 83.7%, after stopping the business. On the Bitstamp platform, the price of Bitcoin trading fell to $400 in Tuesday, down 40% since February 7. Bitcoincharts's data show that over the past 30 days, Bitstamp has accepted more than 800,000 dollar deals, and Bitstamp transactions over the past two days have exceeded Mt. Gox. Mt. Gox was one of the first to participate in bitcoin trading as early as 2010 and was one of three industry representatives on the board of the Bitcoin Foundation. Because of early participation and less competition, Mt. Gox has made considerable progress. But in the Sunday, Capres abruptly resigned from the board of the Bitcoin Foundation. Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, BTC, Blockchain and Circle, the six leading Bitcoin trading institutions, quickly and with Mt. Gox the line, they said in a joint statement: Mt. Gox this tragic betrayal of user Trust is what the company itself does, and does not reflect the rebound or value of Bitcoin and the entire digital currency industry. As with any new industry, there will always be some bad companies being eliminated, which is what we see today. Many of the VCs who invest in bitcoin also defend Bitcoin. Union Square Ventures Partner, Coinbase investor Fred ·' An industry will inevitably fail, collapse, or other problems as it matures, ' Wilson said in a blog post. Anderson (Marc Andreessen), an investment firm that has invested millions of of dollars in bitcoin, says other Bitcoin trading platforms are doing well. In Boston, Keller Powells (Kyle Powers) and Chris Im (Chris Yim) co-founded Liberty Teller, which operates a Bitcoin ATM machine. They answered consumer questions in Tuesday, and Im said he expected the price of Bitcoin to fall, but there was no long-term problem. Regulatory necessity virtual currency trading institutions will benefit from Mt. Gox exit, but they need to show users more transparency and disclosure. Geron Lukashevitz Coinsetter, co-founder and CEO of the New York bitcoin trading agency, said Jaron Lukasiewicz. Steve Hudak, a spokesman for the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Treasury Department's Anti-Money laundering Division, said the department knew about Mt. Gox reported, but no other comments were made. So far, FinCEN is the only American to Mt. Gox the department that implements supervision. Tom Carper, the Democratic senator and chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and government affairs, said in a statement that the Mt. Gox incident reminded us that Tom Capelle and unregulated financial institutions could harm consumers who trust them, American policymakers and regulators should learn from the incident. Capres still for its own Mt. Defended Gox's credibility, but he also said Bitcoin was a risky investment. "If you buy Bitcoin, you should always keep in mind that value is likely to become 0 overnight," he said in a media interview last year. The doorman of Capres's residence said that no one was answering the phone at home, and the mailbox was stuffed full.