By Jean Christou

CYPRUS’ newly-opened bitcoin enterprise said on Wednesday the sudden shut-down of the Tokyo-based MtGox, once the world’s biggest exchange for the digital currency was a “further cleansing of the Bitcoin ecosystem”.

The website of MtGox suddenly went dark on Tuesday with no explanation, and the company’s Tokyo office was empty – the only activity was outside, where a handful of protesters said they had lost money investing in the virtual currency.

Later, the chief executive of MtGox, said the business was at “a turning point,” sparking concerns about the future of the unregulated virtual currency.

But Danny Brewster, CEO of Neo& Bee, which began operating Cyprus’ first bitcoin exchange on Monday, said MtGox was “beyond repair in every aspect”

“Whether the coins are missing or not remains to be seen as little solid information has been released,” said Brewster in an email.

He said luckily the Bitcoin space was now witnessing serious investors and business people developing infrastructure to utilise the technology in a professional manner.

“The time of garage companies, shady operators and teenage hackers has passed,” he said.

“The time of seriously funded, professionally operated, responsibly executed, carefully planned and diligently tested businesses is here.”

Brewster said the latter were far more transparent, more secure and more professional than those of the first generation. At Neo and Bee and Neo EasyCoin, he said, they were making great progress towards higher levels of transparency and professionalism. The willingness of other businesses such as Coinbase, Bitstamp, Circle and Blockchain.info to provide transparency and accountability was also great to see, he added.

“Our customers can always independently verify that their bitcoins are there through the blockchain. We also subject ourselves to external audit with one of the big four audit firms, as well as taking painstaking efforts to remain on the forefront of physical and software security, to ensure we do not become the next MtGox,” he concluded.

On Tuesday, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) directly acknowledged for the first time that bitcoin was not illegal, but it again highlighted the risks of using an unregulated digital currency.

The CBC has previously twice issued a warning to consumers, saying there are risks involved in trading in virtual currencies, in line with a December ruling issued by the European Banking Authority (EBA).

This hesitation has resulted in the Cyprus Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) getting cold feet, despite initial eagerness to allow bitcoin-traded products, such as derivatives.

Following a weeks-long media blitz, Neo & Bee opened its flagship branch in Nicosia on Monday. The company has already partnered with a number of businesses accepting payment in bitcoin, including So Easy Stores, LTV and Telemarketing.





