Crypto Exchanges Bitfinex and Ethfinex Jointly Launch Initial Exchange Offering Platform

Major cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and its spin-off Ethfinex have launched a new initial exchange offering (IEO) platform dubbed Tokinex. The news was revealed in a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 21.

As reported, IEOs have recently emerged as an alternative model of token offering wherein a centralized crypto exchange acts as a form of underwriter. The exchange, besides operating the sales, ostensibly vets both the projects themselves and prospective investors.

Tokinex will reportedly use Know Your Customer (KYC) checks powered by the Blockpass mobile app for each sale completed for the IEOs hosted on the platform. The press release notes that Tokinex will not store personal data after token sales’ completion.

Bitfinex and Ethfinex users will reportedly be able to participate in the sales using funds from their personal exchange wallets, and the platform pledges to provide transparency and adequate due diligence —  providing prospective investors in its IEOs with independent third party research information for each project.

According to the press release, Tokinex does not plan to charge token issuers for listing their tokens, and plans to list their tokens post-sale on both the Bitfinex and Ethfinex marketplaces.

The first token sale slated for the platform will reportedly be announced on May 23, with customer verification checks using BlockPass to open the same day. While the token project selected for the offering has not itself been disclosed, the token sale date is currently planned for June 13 at 13:00 GMT+1, the press release notes.

As recently reported, Bitfinex has recently unveiled its own native exchange utility token, “UNUS SED LEO,” which is designed to be used for a range of exchange-based activities and is tradable against the tether (USDT), bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), USD and EOS pairs.

Plans to issue a native Bitfinex exchange token had first surfaced in late April, with the exchange eventually ostensibly raising $1 billion in both hard and soft commitments for the token in a private IEO, removing the need for a public offering.

The exchange has in parallel been mired in a legal controversy, with the New York Attorney General’s office (NY OAG) accusing Bitfinex of having lost $850 million in user deposits, and subsequently secretly covering up the shortfall using funds from Tether — the latter of which has itself come under renewed criticism for being backed only 74% by USD reserves.

Rebuffing the allegations, the co-defendants have recently secured modifications to the NY OAG’s injunction order.