Tradehill Exchange Suspends Bitcoin Trading Over "Banking and Regulatory Issues"

Who could have ever guessed that a digital currency would cause so much commotion, and for so long? Well beyond the "fad" stage is Bitcoin -- a digital currency that suddenly has the investing world's attention, and even high-stakes players are investing in what amounts to nothing in hopes of it paying off. While it's a bit more legitimate than materials in World of Warcraft, it's not very far from that notion. Still, a popular U.S. Bitcoin exchange (Tradehill) has had to suspend trading of the currency as financial regulators continue to grapple with the legalities involved.


The currency has seen its trading start, stop, peak, drop, start, and stop again, all in the last couple of months. It's about as unstable as a currency gets, but that's to be expected with something so new and unprecedented. Tradehill presently cites "banking and regulatory issues" as the reason for its closure, but hopefully it'll be humming again after the Labor Day holiday. Tradehill stated: "This decision has not been made lightly and we regret having to take such action. However, we embrace the silver lining of our situation and plan to take this opportunity to upgrade, improve, and polish our trading platform."

The upside to all of this? Stabilization and regulation could encourage more traditional players to invest in Bitcoin and even host the trading of it, which is necessary for any currency to truly exceed long-term.