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by Saumya Vaishampayan
Market Watch
A temporary halt on withdrawals from the bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox on Friday and subsequent price decline have prompted trading platform SecondMarket to start a pilot program to buy and sell bitcoin, a move it says highlights the need for a major U.S.-based bitcoin exchange.
SecondMarket, which made its name as a platform that allowed investors to trade shares of Facebook Inc. before the company went public, has established itself in the bitcoin space through its open-ended bitcoin trust.
“Given the MtGox issue, we decided to experiment with a two-way market,” Chief Executive Barry Silbert said in an email Friday about the company’s pilot program. “There is a clear need for a U.S.-based, regulated, compliant and trustworthy bitcoin exchange. This could be the first step in that direction,” he said.
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