Largest Bitcoin exchange MtGox shut down after it had announced to have suffered technical issues that forced the exchange to suspend withdrawals for a week.
“Jon Matonis Feb 23 2014 – Effective immediately, Mt. Gox has submitted their resignation from the board of directors. We are grateful for their early and valuable contributions as a founding member in launching the Bitcoin Foundation. MtGox Co. Ltd. (Japan) held one of the three elected industry member seats. Further details, including election procedures, will be forthcoming.“
” Update – Announcement Affecting Bitcoin Transfers – February 20th, 2014 – Dear MtGox Customers, Thank you for your patience this week while we are working on re-initiating bitcoin withdrawals. In addition to the technical issue, this week we have experienced some security problems, and as a result we had to relocate MtGox to our previous office building in Shibuya (details can be found here: https://support.mtgox.com/home). The move, combined with some other security and technical challenges, pushed back our progress. As much as we didn’t want to only provide an “update on an update”, this is the current status. We are committed to solving this issue and will provide more information as soon as possible to keep everyone in the loop. We are very sorry for the delays and deeply appreciate your kind understanding and continuous support.“
“This tragic violation of the trust of users of Mt.Gox was the result of one company’s abhorrent actions and does not reflect the resilience or value of bitcoin and the digital currency industry. There are hundreds of trustworthy and responsible companies involved in bitcoin. These companies will continue to build the future of money by making bitcoin more secure and easy to use for consumers and merchants.” “We strongly believe in transparent, thoughtful, and comprehensive consumer protection measures. We pledge to lead the way.”
Who has conducted the attack?
The impressive growth in the Bitcoin prices attracted cybercrime, new malware was designed with the intent to steal the precious coins, but many experts believe that the MtGox shutdown is the result of a successful operation conducted by the intelligence and law enforcement that always feared the diffusion of the virtual currency, considered by many specialists the official currency in the criminal underground and a privileged instrument for money laundering.
The MtGox Shut down is a blow for the Bitcoin Industry, in the following image the Bitcoin price after the events.
The source code on the MtGox home page reads “put announce for mtgox acq here” leading many experts to speculate on the motives behind the document leak. An internal document suggests that Bitcoin was closed as part of a four-step rebranding plan.
| [adrotate banner=”9″] | [adrotate banner=”12″] |
(Security Affairs – Bitcoin, MtGox)
[adrotate banner=”5″]
[adrotate banner=”13″]
Share On
