Meltdown at MtGox. Update: 2/28 BANKRUPTCY FILED

[eaglescouter]

http://www.businessinsider.com/mtgox-halts-withdrawals-2014-2

Statement Regarding BTC Withdrawal Delays

Tokyo - JAPAN - February 07, 2014

Dear MtGox Customers,

In our efforts to resolve the issue being encountered by various bitcoin withdrawals, it was determined that the increase in the flow of withdrawal requests has hindered our efforts on a technical level. To understand the issue thoroughly, the system needs to be in a static state.

In order for our team to resolve the withdrawal issue it is necessary for a temporarily pause on all withdrawal requests to obtain a clear technical view of the current processes.

We apologize for the sudden short notice. All bitcoin withdrawal requests will be on pause, and the withdrawals in the system will be returned to your MtGox wallet and can be reinitiated once the issue is resolved. The trading platform will perform as usual for the needs of our customers. 



Our team will resolve this problem as soon as possible and will provide an update on Monday, February 10, 2014 (JST).



We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused, and thank you for your kind support and considerations. 


Sincerely,

The MtGox Team

http://www.coindesk.com/mt-gox-first-bitcoin-exchange-dead/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1x9gue

Day 1 – Wednesday 5 February

After repeated and failed attempts to withdraw my BTC from MtGox, I decided to jump on a plane and pay them a visit in Tokyo.

After a 16 hr. flight from Australia I went straight to their offices, arriving at around 4pm. The receptionist in the lobby told me there was no one available to meet me and I should arrange an appointment.

I refused to leave and after about 15 mins or so, the receptionist handed me the telephone to speak with a member of MtGox support. The support person referred me to their website. After a ‘lively’ conversation I told him I wasn’t gong anywhere, I didn’t travel 16 hrs to read a website I could have read at home. I would wait for Mark Karpeles to come down.

Same thing happened 15 mins later, another call, more non-sense about technical issues, and a suggestion the authorities might have to be called. I told him great, I could lodge an official complaint against MtGox while they were here.

After some hours had passed, the building cleared out and the receptionists left for the night. I was alone in the lobby. Then at approximately 8 pm, I was suddenly greeted by Gonzague Gay-Bouchery, Manager Business Development, and Mark Karpeles right hand man.

I recognized him from some news articles. I thought great, and straight away put some burning questions to him:

Day 2 – Thursday 6 February 2014

I arrived at MtGox early, approximately 8am, and stood outside with a sign reading “MtGox, where has my money gone”. I got some curious looks, and a lot of questions from passersby about my protest.

Then at approximately 9.20 am, Mark Karpeles himself came along carrying a large, and very fancy coffee in his hand that could have passed as a dessert. I immediately confronted him and told him we needed a chat. So he stopped to hear me out.

I told him he was playing with people’s lives, and some people stood to lose their entire savings. Like Gonzague told me the night before, he mentioned technical issues, and that he would look into my case.

Then 20mins later at around 9.40am Gonzague arrived. “Good news” he said, we have sorted out your account, go and check it online. After I got Wi-Fi connection back the hotel I discovered my failed BTC withdrawal transactions had been cancelled and all my BTC were put back in the one place in the world I didn’t want them: The MtGox website. Back to joining the queue of 40,000 other BTCs.

I think this was some sort of ironic joke. I quickly tried to withdraw them again; but surprise, surprise, stuck again.

Day 3 – Friday 7 February

I started my protest a little later today in the knowledge that most of the Goxies don’t start work until after 9am. Then there was an unexpected twist; another person showed up looking for Mark. He was an emissary of an early adopter and well known member of the bitcoin community, and was there to collect an eye watering amount of money.

My emotions were mixed on seeing this person; on one hand I was glad to see another protester to fight the good cause. On the other hand, my heart sank in the knowledge that if Mark isn’t paying off his old friends in the bitcoin community then what chance do small fry like me have?

As the emissary and I chatted, Mark Karpeles arrived, and we both confronted him, the conversation went on for some time and most of it conducted in French which I had trouble understanding. However I did mange to record the whole thing on video.

The episode only came to a halt when Gonzague appeared in the lobby and rescued Mark. Very soon after this point, MtGox released a statement announcing that all BTC withdrawals were suspended.

In conclusion, I think just witnessed MtGox die today. I didn’t get my bitcoin, but glad I came and tried.

 

[BugFreak]

Wow, that is crazy. I hope it gets worked out for people who have their bit coin there.

 

[Luis_GT]

I'm one of the few, I decided to withdraw 1 BTC in cash to avoid this, but my payment is still in limbo... gonna give them the 4 weeks they say they have in delay and see what happens...

otherwise, I'm out $900

 

[gsrcrxsi]

could see this coming with the large disparity they've been running.

they were like +100 on BTC/USD vs all other markets.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

I wonder if they were the sole cause of the latest bitcoin price dump?

 

[ZL1]

I wonder if they were the sole cause of the latest bitcoin price dump?

they're a good part alright, shutters confidence when a major exchange goes boom like this, i really hope they recover and reorganize (more inline with the rest)

 

[I.M.O.G.]

I think the end of the day 3 note is overly dramatic. It's personal for him though, so its understandable.

MtGox has recognized a technical problem on the exchange. Basically, somewhat randomly certain withdrawals will have problems and not process or take forever to process. To troubleshoot that, they've halted BTC withdrawals so they can test and identify a solution. Additionally, they've actually made some statements about this which is a step away from their usual quiet disregard.

I think Gox has problems, and has for quite some time, but if anything they are in better shape now that their price isn't entirely out to lunch compared to other exchanges - their biggest problem was BTC being so overpriced, that anyone with USD stuck there either had to wait forever for a USD withdrawal which has been documented to take MONTHS, or they had to overpay $100-200 per BTC in order to transfer BTC out which also often had problems and wouldn't happen forever.

Now currently, if they fix the BTC withdrawal issue and prices on MtGox stay more connected to the other exchanges - everyone involved is in better shape going forward, except for those who already bought overpriced Gox BTC.

could see this coming with the large disparity they've been running.

they were like +100 on BTC/USD vs all other markets.

That's an understatement even... at worst they peaked around +25% over other market prices, and BTC was around $800 at the time.

 

[Pierre3400]

Mtgox is dead, well the site is anyway.

 

[Silver_Pharaoh]

Mtgox is dead, well the site is anyway.

Hmmmmmm.... Wonder what they are up to?
Server maintenance? or something they won't comment on?

Well most saw this coming anyway I think, way over-priced BTC was a clue

 

[Janus67]

I hope it isn't completely dead, if only so people can get their money out of the exchange. Nothing good will happen if they can't, I can see the value of BTC plummet if that happened.

 

[MongGrel]

To quote the Eagles.

"Ohoh, take the money and run."

Sorry, I had too.

 

[xsuperbgx]

Maybe they are adding litecoin....

 

[ChanceCoats123]

If anyone in the right mind was keeping BTC on that website, they deserve to lose it...

I've been preaching for a while now: DO NOT KEEP YOUR COINS ON THE EXCHANGES! If you are trading them, then YOU are accepting the risk that someone, somewhere in the world that you have never met could take your coins and you will get NOTHING back.

Ps. It's a shame that people are losing money, but if you went so far out on a limb as to have your savings, or loan money in BTC, MTgox should have been the very last place to keep it. They have been going downhill for almost a year now (anyone else remember the "DDoS" during the $266 high?) and it should have been glaringly apparent that MTgox was not a safe place to do business.

 

[ZL1]

If anyone in the right mind was keeping BTC on that website, they deserve to lose it...

I've been preaching for a while now: DO NOT KEEP YOUR COINS ON THE EXCHANGES! If you are trading them, then YOU are accepting the risk that someone, somewhere in the world that you have never met could take your coins and you will get NOTHING back.

Ps. It's a shame that people are losing money, but if you went so far out on a limb as to have your savings, or loan money in BTC, MTgox should have been the very last place to keep it. They have been going downhill for almost a year now (anyone else remember the "DDoS" during the $266 high?) and it should have been glaringly apparent that MTgox was not a safe place to do business.

chance aint about that really, its about what it will do to the market and the credibility of the currency, same as crapocoins affect the credibility badly
p.s. though i do agree, i dont keep more than 10btcents anywhere period

 

[ChanceCoats123]

Well yeah, it does have a big impact on how the whole cryptocurrency is viewed. I do, however, think that the passing of the baton to a different exchange is probably the best thing that could happen to BTC in the long term.

 

[ZL1]

long term i agree, mtgox overpice has been a pain really

 

[gungeek]

If only everyone outside the crypto-currency world didn't think Mt. Gox was equivalent to the NYSE.

 

[Janus67]

If only everyone outside the crypto-currency world didn't think Mt. Gox was equivalent to the NYSE.

truth. my coworkers (who always question cryptocurrency stuff) occasionally read different news articles about it and they almost always point to mt gox.

 

[ChanceCoats123]

If only everyone outside the crypto-currency world didn't think Mt. Gox was equivalent to the NYSE.

truth. my coworkers (who always question cryptocurrency stuff) occasionally read different news articles about it and they almost always point to mt gox.

Which is why Bitcoin will have an even better reputation once a reliable company (maybe Bitstamp) takes the lead in Bitcoin trading and people will have a much better representation of a company to work with when trading Bitcoins.

With Gox as the current "representative of Bitcoin," people are getting a pretty poor shot of the currency as a whole. Namely, Gox is overpriced and it's not actually a viable exchange for those of us living in the US. So people in the US see Gox as a leader, when in reality it's not even an option for them to use.

 

[SF101]

Most other exchanges Do somewhat follow bitstamp i do agree there.