Bitcoin prices at lowest levels since April hype, due in part to Mt Gox’s problems.

LeapRate Exclusive… Bitcoin exchange Mt Gox has been able to solve one of its main problems, by renewing the ability of customers to withdraw money. As we reported several weeks ago, Mt Gox had halted all US Dollar withdrawals in mid June as it and its banks dealt with mainly technical issues resulting from increased volume. Mt Gox has also suffered recently from downtime.

We believe that it is not coincidental that interest in Bitcoin has waned somewhat as Mt Gox has gone through these growing pains. And with less interest comes less demand — and with less demand comes a lower price. Trading now at $77-$79, Bitcoin prices are at their lowest levels since mid April, when the ‘Bitcoin bubble’ temporarily sent prices up into the mid $200s. And we believe that Mt Gox problems are mainly to blame.

Bitcoin price chart, past 3 months. Source: Bitstamp.

The complete Mt Gox statement follows:

Statement on Resumption of Withdrawals and Improved Banking

TOKYO – JAPAN – July 4th, 2013

Dear Mt. Gox Merchants,

Mt. Gox is happy to announce that global account withdrawals have now fully resumed as of today, after several days of testing our new system for processing transactions. We want to keep you informed about our progress in this arena, and especially assure our customers that their funds are accessible.

Progress in the Previous Two Weeks

While we announced that there would be a temporary hiatus on withdrawals, during our testing over the past two weeks we managed to process over $1,000,000 USD to customers. As this required a great deal of manpower and was not a perfect solution, we are quite happy with the progress made despite the conditions.

New Banking Partners

Mt. Gox has now formed relationships with several new banking partners both in Japan and around the world, and we are still in the process of finalizing even more. This means that we will have increased stability and ability to transmit withdrawals going forward.

Current Back-log

The new system is just now getting under way, so there is still a back-log of withdrawals that we need to process. Our team is working hard to increase transaction speeds, but there is approximately a two-week back-log we need to overcome. It will take a few weeks to get back to normal, and we thank you for your patience during this time.

Moving Forward

We at Mt. Gox are proud to be one of the first advocates and entrepreneurs in this growing ecosystem, but much still needs to be accomplished to bring trust and stability to a mass market. In addition to our improved withdrawal system and new trading engine, we are very excited about the innovation happening across our industry and around the world. Despite the hiccups, these are exciting times and we are eternally grateful for your confidence and support along this bumpy road.

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