Since its discovery in 1939 the origin of the phase transition in magnetite (Fe3O4) has been an object of intensive research and great controversy. Here, electrical resistance measurements as a function of gate voltage have been performed on single-crystalline Fe3O4 nanowires, showing that high electric fields trigger the breakdown of the insulating phase into a highly conductive state. Furthermore, the Verwey transition itself is suppressed by the gate voltage. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. {[}http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4793529]