Problems at the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange, once the world’s largest, have come to a head, leaving the virtual currency and peer-to-peer payment system in a state of flux and threatening to undermine much of the acceptance Bitcoins have garnered over the past year or so. The Mt. Gox Web site has been shut down, and the organization’s Twitter feed has been cleared amid reports that the exchange was hacked, resulting in the theft of hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins.  

Image: What will become of Bitcoins? Courtesy of Casascius, via Wikimedia Commons