Weeks After Shutdown, Bitcoin Exchange Customers Still Wait for Refunds

Timothy B. Lee at Law and Disorder reports:

More than two weeks after the Bitcoin exchange Bitfloor closed its virtual doors, many customers are still waiting to get their money back. One tally of 78 Bitfloor users on reddit found that Bitfloor owed them $267,000. The number might be much higher once all users are accounted for.

In an e-mailed statement, Bitfloor's legal counsel blamed the delay on a dispute with the firm's bank. And Bitfloor said it has enough funds deposited with the bank to "cover all of its customers' U.S. dollar credits on account."

Last month's Bitfloor shutdown ended a difficult year for the Bitcoin exchange, which had been the fourth most popular forum for trading Bitcoins for dollars. Hackers allegedly stole $250,000 from the exchange in September 2012. Bitfloor founder Roman Shtylman re-opened the exchange later that month in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to earn back the lost cash. Now some users are wondering if they'll lose even more[...]"How this situation is being handled the way it is, is completely insane to me," an individual user who reportedly lost $32,000 wrote on reddit. "I get that his bank put him in a bad place, however, it's his behavior that is keeping him there. I don't want to get involved in a long, obnoxious lawsuit. It would be expensive and stressful and would definitely hurt public confidence in Bitcoin. However this sum of money is absolutely worth getting into one."

"I think Roman will be looking at a class action lawsuit if he doesn't get his act together," another user responded. "If that happens, please add my name to the list."