No "123 Fake Main Street" here —

In wake of Liberty Reserve bust, Mt. Gox will require user verification

World's largest Bitcoin exchange wants more info from its users.

On Thursday, the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, announced that it would require all users to “be verified in order to perform any currency deposits and withdrawals. Bitcoin deposits do not need verification, and at this time we are not requiring verification for Bitcoin withdrawals.”

The company did not provide any explanation about why it was imposing this new requirement, but it did say that it would be able to process most verifications within 48 hours.

The move comes two days after federal prosecutors went after Liberty Reserve, another online currency that had notoriously poor verification. (In court documents, a federal investigator in that case included an address of “123 Fake Main Street, Completely Made Up City, New York” to create an account that was accepted.) It also comes two weeks after the Department of Homeland Security started investigating Mt. Gox over the possible crime of money transmitting without a license.

Mt. Gox did not immediately respond to requests for comment concerning why this new requirement has been put into place or what exactly it will entail. We will update this story if more information becomes available.

Channel Ars Technica