Mt.Gox Closed to all BTC withdrawls

2/07/2014 02:15:00 pm Unknown 0 Comments

OH DEAR, OH DEAR, OH DEAR!

Mt.gox, which is still being called a 'Major' exchange by some sources, has now stopped Bitcoin withdrawls.

Two things immediately spring to mind:
1. Are Mt.gox trying to play the good old fractional reserve dance made famous by the banks in the late 90's and early-mid and late 00's? This basically involves buying of Bitcoin with funds that they don't really own or some other simliar form of financial jiggery pokery. It's been well known for some time that something fishy is going on at Mt.gox, along with all their public fines they have had to restrict withdrawls for fiat for a while now, and had implemented long delays, but stopping Bitcoin withdrawls completely is something far more scary.
2. The second thing to spring to mind is: WHO was still using that platform? Surely only stuntmen, fighter pilots and base jumpers. I can't think of any other people who can live with this level of risk day in and day out



SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Not a lot really, prepare for a short sharp fall in price and then the inevitable correction, possibly down to $580 at the lowest, but it's difficult to predict as the true volume of mt.gox is not information I'm privy to. Of course any official reports could be false as that's how FR works.
Does it mean Bitcoin is any closer to failing? NOPE, mt.gox will be replaced, there are plenty of budding entrepreneurs planning to set up exchanges as you read this. also you can now buy Bitcoin for cash using zipzap at over 28,000 UK shops, and Scan computers also accept the currency so bit by bit the need to convert bitcoin back to fiat is becoming both easier and unneeded.

What should you do.
If you held bitcoin on Mt.gox, just write it off. There is a good chance you will get it back but, also a good chance it's gone. If you had more than 0.1 on there then SHAME on you! please remember only store in online wallets what you are prepared to lose at a moments notice. If you're not a stakeholder in mt.gox then sit back and watch this rollercoaster that those poor souls have gotten themselves wrapped up in.

So what are the alternatives?
We use Bitstamp, and btc-e. we are planning on testing out bit121 but haven't gotten around to it.

Please remember that Mt.gox was never intended to be as big as it has gotten, it was originally designed to trade collectible cards or something random like that, then Bitcoin came on the scene and things got very real for Mt.gox very quickly. The sooner this company gets out of the Bitcoin space the better really as they are probably not designed to intergrate with the growning AML(anti money laundering) pressure. They need to close down, take check and start again. They have been great for years but this last year or so things have gone from bad to worse.

In other news, I found a great video yesterday from Real London featuring Vinay Gupta, it's very interesting and well worth a watch, check it out here:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rys_saLiDA
it's about an hour long so get some snacks and turn your brain on.


OH DEAR, OH DEAR, OH DEAR! Mt.gox, which is still being called a 'Major' exchange by some sources, has now stopped Bitcoin withdra...

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