Thanks to a prolonged distributed denial-of-service attack, Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp suspended withdrawals late Tuesday. The world’s third-largest Bitcoin exchange joins the long-troubled MtGox exchange in the fallout over the “transaction malleability” bug in the Bitcoin code.
Speaking with Bloomberg News, Blockchain.info’s chief security officer Andreas Antonopoulos characterized the DDoS attacks as “a nuisance” aimed at the software of exchanges themselves, and does not impact Bitcoin.
“Funds have not been lost, and have not been affected,” Antonopoulos said. “What it’s done is slow down their accounting system from reconciling transactions.”
Bitstamp representatives noted that customers won’t be able to withdraw funds from the exchanges until the DDoS attacks have been addressed, and have explained that all failed transactions since Feb. 10 will be canceled.
The DDoS attacks on the major exchanges have had a surprisingly small impact on Bitcoin value, with prices hovering above $650 USD.
