Why the BTC-E Exchange does not work

On July 25, 2017 one of the leading crypto-currency exchanges BTC-E became inaccessible to users. In a few hours, the representatives of the exchange made a statement that “due to technical works in the data center, the BTC-site can be temporarily unavailable”, “technical work is nearing completion.” Nevertheless, the exchange did not go online a day later.

In the official Twitter page of the BTC-e crypto-currency exchange, a message has been published with the information that the work will be restored within 5-10 days.

In the network, rumors began circulating that more than $ 169 million was stolen from the stock exchange. Also, according to some info, the exchange could be temporarily disconnected for the period of the Bitcoin depreciation. The information is currently unconfirmed.

Recall that on July 25, the Bitcoin rate dropped by $ 200, at the same time, with the fall of the rate on July 14-16 at $ 500, the exchange was not disconnected.

The current situation was commented by the Executive Director of CASEXE Ivan Kondilenko, “The situation that has developed around the BTC-E exchange is very ambiguous. There are several basic versions of what is happening. One of our sources reports that the exchange was actually hacked and some of the funds were withdrawn by unknown persons, the amount of $ 169 million appears on the Internet, we cannot confirm this information yet. Other sources say that the closure of the exchange is connected with the arrest of one of the founders of BTC-E Alexander Vinnik in Greece and the outsiders are irrelevant to stopping the work of the exchange. Only indicative is the fact that the BTC-E ceased its operation amid a sharp drop in the Bitcoin rate after the announcement of the POLONIEX exchange about a possible harforke (a change in the protocol to optimize the operation of the blocks).”

“We are watching the development of the situation and one of the first to report the true reasons for the failure of the BTC-E exchange. This is perhaps the biggest stress for Bitcoin users since the MT-Gox exchange bankruptcy in 2014. The situation is definitely stabilizing and this will not change the global trends of the industry’s development, but an unpleasant residue will remain. It’s always unpleasant when a few dishonest people harm the reputation of the market as a whole. “

The BTC’s crypto-currency exchange started operating in 2011 and is among the ten largest Bitcoin exchanges in the world. Currently, it has more than 4 thousand users.