The security of Bitcoin banks was once more placed in doubt after reports came out on Tuesday that a Chinese Bitcoin exchange holding $4.1 million for 1,000 customers had disappeared.

YouTube/TheStreet

The incident comes just days after hackers successfully entered into the system of payments processor Inputs.io from a four-month-old Australian Bitcoin bank and stole over $1.3 million.

The GBL exchange initially claimed to be based in Hong Kong but turned out to be located in China, according to the Hong Kong Standard. All the accounts are now offline and everyone involved with the exchange has vanished. The office address listed on its Web site is fake, according to some Chinese in the mainland who went to check the location.

The exchange started to operate in May 2013 under the domain btc-glb.com and was registered on May 9. A post in May at the Bitcoin Talk forum by user zhaoxianpeng promoted the Web site.

GBL did not have any business licence to operate a financial services company, noted WantChinaTimes, which also pointed out that Bitcoin banks and exchanges have a tendency to disappear.

In the last three years, 18 of 40 Bitcoin trading platforms have shuttered, including TradeHill, the second-largest in terms of transaction volume, according to a research by Southern Methodist University Assistant Professor Tyler Moore and Carnegie Mellon University Assistant Professor Nicolas Christin.

Of the 18, 13 closed with no prior notice, while 5 were forced to close after it was hit by hacker attacks. Six had offered to refund users their lost Bitcoins, including TradeFortress in Australia.

The Aussie Bitcoin bank was run by an 18-year-old Australian who lives in Sydney. His offer to repay part of the hacked Bitcoins depleted his Bitcoins savings.

More information about Bitcoin exchanges in this report.

YouTube/Reuters TV

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