Since the triumphant ascension of the cryptocurrency industry, its proponents have long urged the federal governments and the central banks of the world to stand back, refrain from regulations and just mind their own business. However, things might have changed after Tuesday’s revelations.

The entire world knows now that Mt. Gox, one of the biggest bitcoin exchange platforms, has gone dark and has possibly signaled that it is insolvent, bankrupt and doesn’t have $320 million worth of bitcoins. This has led to some to urge the Japanese authorities to intervene and try to get their digital holdings back.

The Bank of Japan and various governmental agencies have warned bitcoiners that it could not be held responsible if such an incident occurred. At the time, the bitcoin community scoffed at the news and were pleased that perhaps another government would not get involved in the world of virtual currencies.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency and Finance Ministry reportedly told Reuters that it does not have jurisdiction to intervene in the matter of Mt. Gox. However, that has changed in just a matter of hours.

A top government spokesperson in Tokyo has confirmed to reporters at a news conference that it is possibly looking into the closure of Mt. Gox. “At this stage the relevant financial authorities, the police, the Finance Ministry and others are gathering information on the case,” said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

Meanwhile, over in the United States, federal prosecutors in New York have sent a subpoena to Mt. Gox. Also, Tom Carper, a Delaware Democratic Senator and chairman of a Senate committee involved in the bitcoin issues, said legislation is needed to protect consumers in regards to bitcoin. Senator Carper has been calling for regulations and rules from law enforcement officials for months now.

“The disturbing news today from Japan is a reminder of the damage that potentially ill-equipped and unregulated financial actors can wreak on unsuspecting customers,” said Carper in a statement. “U.S. policymakers and regulators can and should learn from this incident to protect consumers.”

Benjamin Lawsky, New York state’s superintendent of financial services, was questioned by CNBC about the ramifications of this week’s news and he responded that it’s not necessarily the end of bitcoin and digital currencies aren’t going away anytime soon.

“It may be a significant bump in the road for the development of bitcoin and virtual currencies, but I don’t think it means they’re going away or it’s any kind of death knell,” stated Lawsky.

This news has caused Mt. Gox to issue a statement to the news outlet: “We should have an official announcement ready soon-ish. We are currently at a turning point for the business. I can’t tell much more for now as this also involves other parties.”

The closure of Mt. Gox can only mean one thing: intensification of regulation by authorities.

At this time, it appears that when it comes to bitcoin everything has returned to normal. It is presently trading at $558, down more than half from its all-time high of around $1,200 this past year.

For more Bitcoin news follow PFhub on FaceBook, Twitter or bookmark this page.