Bitcoin Prices Drop After Mt. Gox Blocks Withdrawals

Down 8 percent of exchange value

The price of Bitcoin dropped sharply today after Mt. Gox announced that it was temporarily halting Bitcoin withdrawals on its trading platform.

For months now, some Mt. Gox users have found it difficult to withdraw funds from their accounts; the withdrawal freeze will help Mt. Gox's team get to the root of the problem, the exchange said.

Mt. Gox, which is based in Tokyo, is the world's third-largest Bitcoin exchange by recent trading volume. For years it was the No. 1 exchange, but BTC China took the top spot last fall, riding a huge wave of Asian interest in digital currencies. Since the Chinese government forbid banks and payment processors from handling bitcoins this past December, however, BTC China has fallen to fourth place.