Mt. Gox, the world’s largest Bitcoin-based exchange has temporarily suspended US-dollar withdrawals for the next two weeks, the company said in a press release posted on its site.
According to Mt. Gox, the decision to suspend the transactions was largely attributed to rising volumes of deposits and withdrawals from numerous markets that are fast getting into the Bitcoin craze. The Japanese-based company didn’t attribute this suspension of transactions to anything anomalous, instead admitting that the sheer volume of transactions has been difficult to keep up with.
“This increased volume has made it difficult for our bank to process the transactions smoothly and within a timely manner, which has created unnecessary delays for our global customers.” Mt. Gox’s statement said. “This is especially so for those in the United States who are requesting wire transfer withdrawals from their accounts.”
So the company decided to hold up on the withdrawals for the next two weeks, instead opting to use the downtime to hopefully upgrade its system in order to make withdrawals of US-dollar denominations faster and smoother.
This isn’t the first time Mt. Gox has made the news regarding Bitcoin-related items. Earlier this month, it announced that it would introduce user verification for all transactions using flat currency, requiring individuals who purchase or withdraw Bitcoins using flat currency to present either a government-issued identification, a utility bill, or an employment record. And that’s not event taking into account a lawsuit filed by US exchange Coinlab, and Homeland Security seizing its Dwolla account for its failure to register as a money transmitter.
