Investing.com - Bitcoin prices plunged more than 40% on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox Exchange on Thursday, as investors were disappointed with a lack of concrete details regarding progress made on resuming withdrawals on the troubled exchange.
BTC/USD fell to a session low of $134.10 on Mt. Gox, before trimming losses to trade at $156.95 during U.S. morning hours, down 40.5%.
In a statement released on its website earlier Thursday, troubled Bitcoin exchange operator Mt. Gox said, “In addition to the technical issue, this week we have experienced some security problems, and as a result we had to relocate Mt. Gox to our previous office building in Shibuya.”
“The move, combined with some other security and technical challenges, pushed back our progress,” the company said in the statement.
The statement continued, “As much as we didn’t want to only provide an “update on an update”, this is the current status. We are committed to solving this issue and will provide more information as soon as possible to keep everyone in the loop.”
Mt. Gox, which was once the world's largest Bitcoin trading exchange, was forced to halt all Bitcoin withdrawals on February 7 due to a technical issue, leading to steep declines as traders shied away from the virtual currency.
The company said earlier in the week that its customers should be able to withdraw Bitcoins from their accounts again “soon”, although it is still not sure just how long the process of restoring access will take.
It had promised to issue an update on its progress no later than Thursday.
Elsewhere, the price of a Bitcoin last traded at $595.00 on Slovenia-based BitStamp, down 5.5%, while prices on BTC-e traded at $578.00, down 5.85%.
BitStamp is the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, while Bulgaria-based BTC-e is the third-biggest by volume.
According to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, which averages prices from the major exchanges, prices of the crypto-currency lost 5% to trade at $586.75.
Bitcoin is digital cash for the internet and it is not backed by a government or central bank to regulate or issue it. It can be used to purchase goods and services from stores and online retailers.
Prices of the virtual currency soared to an all-time high of USD1,241.10 on November 29. It was trading at USD100 in early October.