Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox temporarily paused trading this morning. This caused the currency's value to tumble by 21% from $783 to $619. The Japanese trading platform said the trading suspension was due to the increase in requests for withdrawal, VentureBeat reported.
The value of the digital curency has climbed back up to $732 as of this writing, the report added.
Mt Gox has encountered several technical issues last month and is now switching the system to a "static state" to find out the root cause of the problem. Although $619 is still a high value compared to its $21.71 value last year, 21% is a huge drop. This is yet another reminder that the Bitcoin's value is very volatile, the report explained.
The cryptocurrency hit its highest mark when it went past $1,200 somewhere in 2013. However, Bitcoin has also experienced some down times. Its price tumbled when China cracked down on the currency in December. Then there was the Silk Road incident, when officials cracked down on the online black market where Bitcoin is used to purchase illegal weapons and drugs. In addition, a number of wallet hacks also occurred, the report detailed.
Meanwhile, all requests for Bitcoin withdrawal in Mt Gox will be returned and reinitiated after the issue is fixed. According to Mt Gox, it will send out another update on Feburary 10, VentureBeat reported.
Join the Conversation