A Bitcoin software glitch caused its value to drop 23 percent
Bitcoin transactions were temporarily suspended on Monday night after a technical glitch with Bitcoin mining software, according to a report by Ars Technica.
After the glitch, the value of Bitcoins plummeted by 23 percent, dropping from $48 to $37, but the price soon recovered to $44, according to the report.
Major Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox resumed Bitcoin deposits at 5:30 am EST Tuesday.
“Early this morning, a Bitcoin block too big for version 0.7 was mined by miners using version 0.8, creating a fork in the blockchain. After some deliberation in the community, it was decided that miners should downgrade their version and continue the 0.7 fork until the issue is resolved,” according to a statement by Mt.Gox.
Mt.Gox assured that Bitcoin deposits with Mt.Gox or those in transit at the time of the issue are safe.
The issue is a setback for Bitcoins, which have seen increased acceptance and adoption over the past few months, including a number of web hosts that have begun accepting Bitcoin payment. Most recently, Namecheap offered customers the option to pay for hosting or domain services with Bitcoins.
Read more: Bitcoin Payment and Web Hosting – Is Digital Currency an Opportunity?
Talk back: Do you think this glitch is a setback for Bitcoin adoption? Do you accept Bitcoin payment for your hosting services? Let us know in a comment.
About Nicole Henderson
Nicole Henderson is the Editor in Chief of the Web Host Industry Review where she covers daily news and features online, as well as in print. She has a bachelor of journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. You can find her on Twitter @NicoleHenderson.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Do you think Bitcoin will be popular in a few years? I’ve never used it.
Bitcoin is the currency of the future. It will surpass PayPal by several orders of magnitudes.