Bitcoin Value Drops as Mt.Gox Halts Withdrawals

One of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, Mt.Gox, already suffering from a few problems regarding the withdrawal of USD, has encountered yet another issue and has now halted all withdrawals, including Yen. This has led to another sharp fall in value of the currency, down to under $700 at the time of writing, although knowing Bitcoin, that may well have changed again. Before placing a block on withdrawals of USD back in December, Mt.Gox is said to have facilitated around 80% of all Bitcoin trading, however that block left plenty of frozen funds in accounts. Many users did a little trading and then withdrew funds in Yen, however there is at present no withdrawal facility at all. A spokesperson for the exchange said that due to an massive increase in the amount of withdrawals being processed it, "has hindered our efforts on a technical level" and that to "understand the issue thoroughly, the system needs to be in a static state." Static is exactly what it is at present.

There's more bad news coming out of Russia as the Russian Federation has declared that the currency is illegal, leading to a number of Russian exchanges being closed down abruptly. A statement was released that stated, "In accordance with Art. 27 of the Federal Law 'On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation', the official currency of the Russian Federation is the ruble ... Bitcoin are money substitutes and cannot be used by individuals and legal entities," The statement goes on to warn about the fluctuations in Bitcoin and the high risk involved in their trading. Meanwhile officials in Cyprus have also had stern words to say about Bitcoin warning citizens that it is not legal tender in the country and that people should be extremely cautious when thinking of investing in it.

Many online poker players have started using Bitcoin as a depositing and withdrawing method with Americas Cardroom now offering it in the cashier.