Bitcoin investors PANIC as cyber attacks leave them unable to withdraw their money
PANICKED Bitcoin investors are worried they will be unable to withdraw their cash after cyber-attacks have left some investors money stuck in the system.
By DAN FALVEY
06:22, Tue, Jan 23, 2018 | UPDATED: 06:32, Tue, Jan 23, 2018
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Bitcoin plungeGETTY
Bitcoin investors are panicking that they cannot withdraw their funds as the currency's value drops
There are fears that some of those who have invested in the crypto-currency will struggle to get their cash out after Bitcoin’s value plummeted by 40 per cent in a single month.
BitConnet, a coin exchange server, announced that it was shutting down meaning all traders would need to withdraw their money.
However, despite reassurances customers would be able to withdraw at a "recent exchange rate”, those trying to retrieve their investment found they were unable to do so due to continuous cyber-attacks.
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Traders are concerned that they will have lost all the money they placed on the online exchange site.
Complaints from investors range from fears they have lost a few thousand pounds to concerns they have lost their entire “family savings.”
Other investors have lost their Bitcoin after they mistakenly handing over information to their cryptocurrency wallets to scammers, assuming they were BitConnect “customer support”.
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Bitcoin is a new kind of money [Getty Images]
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Bitcoin is a new kind of money [Getty Images]
Bitcoin is a new kind of moneyCryptocurrency Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currencyA sign reading We accept Bitcoins is displayed in a Parisian retail store window in December 2017Everything you need to know about BitcoinBitcoin prices recently hit a new all-time high, with one unit of the cryptocurrency trading at £4813.32 ($6.345) on Monday October 30Like all currencies, the price fluctuates according to market conditions, and different brokers can charge different rates and feesbitcoin wallet A bitcoin wallet is a piece of software which acts like a bank account and holds your bitcoinOnce you've opened your account, you’ll need to find a broker or an exchange, companies that sell bitcoin in exchange for currencyBittBoy.co.uk is a comparison website which shows the current rates at different brokers, minimum and maximum purchases and trust ratingsIf you are buying bitcoin as an investment you can sell them back to brokers at a later date – hopefully at a profit
Since Bitcoin was first mined in 2009, the virtual money has seen its value surge and it reached an all time high of more than $17,000 (£12,000) in December 2017.
However, its recent plunge has seen the value drop to just £8,300.
The downward trend has caused for some investors to opt-out of the crypto-currency market and invest in gold instead.
Expert warns Bitcoin could decrease after being institutionalised
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Wall Street veteran Peter Boockvar has said that with currency could continue to implode over the next 12 months and be worth as little as $1,000 (£718) by the end of 2018.
Daniel Marburger, the Director of Coininvest, has claimed he sold 30kg of gold worth approximately £1million to Bitcoin investors in one day this month after they rushed to move their investments.
He said: “It is an unprecedented time and shows the sway from bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies back to a solid, robust investment in these uncertain times.”
BitcoinsGETTY
Investors are ditching Bitcoin in favour of more traditional funding options such as gold
Meanwhile, the first publicly known “bitcoin billionaires” have lost around $443million (£316m) each as a result of the falling value of the cryptocurrency and have fallen out of Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, the twins revealed.
The Winklevoss twins sued Mark Zuckerberg for $65million (£46m) in 2008 for stealing the idea of Facebook and used some of the money to buy around 120,000 bitcoins in March 2013 when one coin was worth around $120 (£85).
Each brother had around $443million cut from their net worth, leaving them with $739million (£527m) apiece, according to Bloomberg.
