The world’s largest bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox has temporarily suspended withdrawals made in the U.S. dollar. The exchange announced the decision on its website today. It’s one of a string of major upgrades Mt. Gox has had to make as interest in bitcoin trading has blossomed.
Details On Mt. Gox’s Suspension
According to Mt. Gox, it has seen “rising volumes of deposits and withdrawals” from both “established and upcoming markets interested in Bitcoin.” The exchange said this higher volume has made it difficult for its bank to process all of the transactions within a timely fashion. The result has been delays for Mt. Gox’s customers around the globe, especially for those located in the U.S. who wanted to withdraw funds from their bitcoin account.
The bitcoin exchange said that it’s in the process of improving the way it processes withdrawals made in U.S. dollars, so it had to temporarily suspend U.S. currency withdrawals. The suspension is expected to last for two weeks.
Mt. Gox said deposits and transfers made to it in U.S. dollars will not be affected, and neither will deposits or withdrawals in any other currencies. It said it would resume withdrawals in U.S. dollars as soon as it finishes making its improvements.
Bitcoin Growing Pains At Mt. Gox
The bitcoin suddenly leapt into the spotlight earlier this year, and the value of the virtual currency soared over $200. The higher the value went, the more investors became interested in it, and the more transactions Mt. Gox has had to handle. The exchange has been going through several growing pains over the last few months as a result.
It added user verification for transactions involving flat currency last month, possibly in order to comply with intensified scrutiny from regulators around the globe. In April, Mt. Gox put bitcoin trading on hold so that it could upgrade its systems, which had lagged so badly that panic sales of the virtual currency were triggered. The exchange said the upgrades were needed because its system wasn’t equipped to handle the dramatically increased amounts of transactions it was handling.
The exchange suffered stronger than usual cyber-attacks a day after resuming trading, likely from cyber criminals who had also taken an interest in the currency.
