There are some serious issues going on at the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. With millions of dollars seized by United States authorities and inexperience in the realm of finance, the exchange has hit a wall at full speed, announcing on Friday they are unable to process withdrawals due to overwhelming requests. Some speculate there isn’t enough money on hand (though the exchange says the withdrawals halt is happening on a technical level), and the bitcoin community has reacted with major sell-offs, bringing the price per bitcoin to an all-time low this year of $619.
Some news publications have deemed the exchange dead already, except for the fact that it isn’t — yet. Gox has found itself limping along, with trading on the platform continuing (despite over one hour of downtime on Saturday).
Awaiting Monday
Gox has vowed to make a follow-up statement on Monday regarding the condition of withdrawals, though the bitcoin world is desperately awaiting news that will either confirm the exchange’s integrity, or prove its insolvency.
But if the exchange’s history of communicating with customers is anything to go by, we can probably expect a statement shrouded by smoke and mirrors, leaving users uncertain about what will happen to the exchange — and more importantly, to their funds.
All empires collapse. This may be the last we see of the world’s oldest (and once-largest) bitcoin exchange. But let’s not call it dead until it’s dead.
Author note: There was a slight misuse of words in an original version of this post that has been amended.