I'm sure that by now all the seasoned visitors here know to stay away from the MtGox site... this is mostly for the newer visitors, and those who might be getting caught up in all the hype about Black Friday and Cyber Monday....

Over the weekend, in an attempt to attract more people to it's site, mtgox.com published an e-mail news letter to everyone who previously created an mtgox.com account advertising a new one-time password card, and advertising no fees for mtgox.com trading from Black Friday thru Cyber Monday.  Potential visitors to MtGox are reminded to USE EXTREME CAUTION when considering to do business with the once-trustworthy Japan-based bitcoin exchange.  Especially given how no one has yet to come forward (other than known mtgox employees) to say that they have successfully been able to withdraw USD currency from the site.

MtGox will happily accept any USD money you would like to deposit to them.  If you only plan to buy BitCoins and send them out to another account you may be somewhat safe.  However, MtGox has completely stopped honoring any and all requests to withdraw USD to banks, even those accounts that members have gone through the extra trouble of making 'validated' accounts.  They have giving the excuse that they have been having to manually process withdraw requests while they look for new banking 'partners'.... while they continue to give this excuse, and make claims that they are only 5-6 weeks behind in withdraw requests, the truth of the matter is no one who has made a USD withdraw request over the last 4 months (Since August 1st, 2013) has seen a cent of that money.

The moral of the story is, before you get caught up in MtGox's lure of no fees and free trading over the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend, make sure you know what you are getting into and have done your homework first.  Do your own google searchers, and see if you can find anyone who has been able to get USD from MtGox over the last four months.  The best BitCoin trader is an informed trader

you got to love the scammers, don't yeah?  problem is lots of people fall for it *frown*.... "Yeah sure, I have a way to get you usd above mtgox prices, just send me your bit coins and your bank account information, and I'll send the money right over...".....  but then again, what room do I have to talk? I fell for the whole "mt gox is one of the largest exchanges of BTC on the net, so sure it's safe to try to withdraw money from.".

Good guess on the United States... guess I should have mentioned that in my post.

But for now, I'm off to do some research on coinbase.  Thanks for the suggestions all!.

Now that MtGox is no longer reliable for withdrawing USD funds, does anyone know what the best exchange would be fore selling BTC for USD? Preferably an exchange that is not going to take 3 to 4 months to process your withdraw request.

Thanks.

mtgox was once a great site.  it's a real shame how they have fallen to being second rate scam artists.  I'm still waiting for them to send me my USD withdraw that I requested four months ago, and they keep feeding me the same line of BS, that they are having to manually handle withdraws as they look for new 'partners'.   but I guess the line works for them, they keep getting people to send them money and are able to keep the people trying to withdraw money quiet.

This is an alert to anyone considering to make use of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange.  You will loose any money you submit to them. 

Like many others, I was lured into thinking that Mt. Gox would be a safe exchange to go with since it's been around so long, and is considered one of the largest exchanges on the net.  Unfortunately, now that it is under new management, they have adapted a new policy to scam and defraud potential bitcoin investors by hiding behind the protection of the Japanese banking system. 

Mt. Gox will happily accept any amount of real money you wish to send them, as well as any amount of BitCoins.... They will also be happy to allow you to withdraw BitCoins. However, if you attempt to withdraw real money, even if you have gone through the process of 'validating' both yourself and your bank, they will refuse to honor that request. 

On the withdraw page, they have a notice that says that there might be a 'slight' delay in withdraws as they are having to manually preform the withdraws while they look for a new banking partner.  However, I have been waiting over 75 days for them to get around to 'manually' process my request, and I still wait, while Mt. Gox still keeps my funds.  Not only that, but after doing a little digging around, it appears that not a single person has managed to withdraw a single real currency cent from Mt. Gox since August 1st. 

I have had many correspondences with the support staff of Mt. Gox on this matter, and they continue to assure me that I will soon get my money.  I've advised them several times that they should change or remove the withdraw option on their page until they are willing to honor withdraw requests again, but they apparently do not wish to do this, as they wish to continue to make people think that they will be able to get their money.

It's very sad to see such a reputable company fall to the lure of scamming and defrauding the BitCoin community.  I guess the high commission amounts they were getting was not good enough.  Either way, I strongly suggest that everyone stay as far away from Mt. Gox as possible.  but don't just take my word for it, do some forum and google searches.  See what other people have to say about the mass scamming that Mt. Gox is currently preforming.

I know that now.  I just wish I knew that before.  With any luck, others will learn how dangerous and deceptive MtGox can be before they find themselves in the same situation.

Today marks day 40 of Mt. Gox's withdraw freeze for all non-eletronic currencies.  For the past 40 days, at least that I can personally verify, MtGox has been informing anyone who has requested an international transfer of funds in any currency other than bitCoins that their withdraw's are being manually done.  However, no one at all has received their money.

If you are sending Mt.Gox currency to buy bitCoins you are probably safe, as, at least for now, MtGox appears to be honoring bitCoin withdraws.  However, all users who send bitCoins intending to sell them for real currency should be advised that MtGox appears to be in an indefinite hold, and that it may take several months for your withdraw to be honored, if at all.

Hopefully this freeze will be over soon, and Mt Gox will return to it's position as a leader in the bitCoin exchange market.  I'll keep you updated.

Hi J.Socal...

Thanks for the news post.  I saw that as well.  Hopefully, that's all it is, and things will soon be fine with them.  For the first few weeks after I made my withdraw request, I was also hoping that was the case.  But now that I'm past the 1 month mark, quickly approaching the 6 week mark, I'm forced to wonder just how much 'benefit of the doubt' do you give someone?  Even if they had to switch everything over to manual... with the large transaction fees both trading from currency to BTC, and BTC to currency, and the fees they have on making a withdraw, I would think that a month is more than enough time to hire on additional staff to do the manual withdraw data entry.   Plus with them no longer answering customer service requests in regards to withdraws at all, I think most would admit that is looking a bit suspicious.

With that being said, I also have to admit that I am rather new to the whole BitCoin market and exchange thing.  Perhaps it is normal for people to expect to wait several months before they get their money when making withdraw requests.

Hi $pike,

If you figure this out, please let me know.  on August 5th, I requested a withdraw from Mt. Gox as well, and still have not seen any sign of my money.  I even went though all their hoops to establish a 'trusted' bank account.  For the first few weeks, whenever I would ask, they would tell me that they were having to do manual withdraws... although now, like you, they have stopped answering customer service requests completely.

My guess is that they are shifting from legit company to scam operation.  Trying to get as many people to send them money while putting a freeze on all real money withdraws (I've heard of some people still being able to get bitcoins out, but I have not heard of anyone able to get real currency out from them in the last 1 - 2 months.

My guess is that Mt. Gox is in the process of going out of business. They are trying to get as many people to send them money while putting a freeze on any money going out.

A month ago I requested a withdrawl...  over the course of that month, about once a week I would request the status of my withdraw and they kept feeding me the same line of B.S. that they were doing withdraws manually, and it would take some time.  Then, about a week ago, they have stopped answering customer service requests all together.

My suggestion at this point is that anyone who is considering to use Mt. Gox should seriously think twice, and if they do, be prepared to wait months to get anything out of them, if at all.

I'm sure this will be one of those instances were everyone decides to start slamming me for not doing my homework first, and telling me this is my own fault, which it probably is, but here goes anyway....

If anyone is thinking about using MtGox as a bit coin exchange, you should probably think twice.... Although they are very quick to accept any deposits or bitCoins you want to send them, getting any money out of them is another issue.   Back in July, I setup an account and went through all the hoops that they have setup to verify both myself, and to setup a verified U.S. bank account... Seeing how MtGox is supposed to be one of the largest BitCoin exchanges on the net, I figured they would be a safe place to start.... So, on August 5th I transferred 5 BTC to them, and sold them at market, planning on sending the proceeds to the account that I set up.

One month later, I still sit here, waiting for me withdraw to arrive.  At the time, their FAQ stated that I should wait 5 business days before asking about my withdraw.. when I did that, I was told that they were having to do withdraws manually and it would take 2 weeks.... at the 2 week mark, I was told it would take 3 weeks, now, at the one month mark, I was told that they will do it at some point, they just don't know when.

Fortunately, we are not talking thousands and thousands of dollars tied up here, but still it's not a small chunk of change (at least not to me).  What I've seen seeing here on the forums is that for months, Mt.Gox has been having issues with currency withdraws, especially to U.S. banks.  had I done my homework first, I might have seen that and looked for another exchange to use.  If you plan on only withdrawing BitCoins, then perhaps your experience will be better. But for now, I continue to wait, and hope that one day Mt.Gox will decide to send me the money they have been holding onto.

P.S. Does anyone know of a more reliable exchange that people in the U.S. can use where we won't have to wait months for withdraws to go through?  Thanks.

Hi all,

Is anyone aware of any issues with withdrawing USD funds from MtGox?  In july I went through all their hoops to get a trusted bank account setup, then August 5th I decided to do a test run, and sent them 5 BTC and sold them, and then tried to to a withdraw to the trusted account that I setup.   A week later, after waiting the requested 5 business days, I sent them a message asking about the status, and was told there was a 2 week delay in them starting transfers because they had to do them manually now or something.  So, I waited patiently...

At the 2 week mark, I was told that it would be 3 weeks....

Now, a month later, I'm being told that they have no clue when they will be able to get around to sending me my withdrawl.

Is this normal for Mt Gox?  Does anyone know of a more reliable BitCoin exchange where I won't have to wait months for my withdraw to be started?

Thanks.