New York-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis is set to provide crypto exchange Bitfinex with its Anti-Money Laundering compliance solution. In a press release published on Dec. 12, both firms took pains to stress that the solution will be privacy-safe, but help Bitfinex to crack down on bad actors using its platform. Enhanced monitoring Chainalysis is one of the highest-profile firms in the blockchain intelligence industry, providing solutions — such as its proprietary KYT (Know Your Transaction) tool — that enable firms, governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor blockchain transactions and track suspected illicit activities. Earlier this year, the firm …

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and crypto store Bitrefill partnered to allow the trading platform’s clients to shop with Bitcoin (BTC) over the Lightning Network. According to a press release published on Dec. 4, Bitfinex users can instantly pay for a variety of services with Bitcoin that they hold on the exchange as of today. A Lightning B2B settlement system Per the press release, the companies attribute the development to the “world’s first dynamic B2B settlement process over the Lightning Network.” The announcement builds on recent news that Bitfinex enabled Bitcoin Lightning Network transactions and that those using it for deposits and …

The plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit accusing the Tether (USDT)-affiliated crypto exchange Bitfinex of Bitcoin (BTC) price manipulation have declined to amend their complaint. According to a court filing dated Dec. 2, the plaintiffs declined to make amendments to their complaint as a study conducted by John Griffin and Amin Shams “still concludes that USDT was being used to manipulate Bitcoin prices.” Moreover, they state that the findings connect the manipulation to a single entity. Last year, Griffin and Shams of the University of Texas published a paper, alleging that Tether partially caused Bitcoin’s historic high of $20,000 in 2017. …

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has revealed the first of two major upgrades it says will completely change user payments and spending habits. In a tweet on Dec. 2, the platform’s CTO, Paolo Ardoino, confirmed that as of Tuesday, it would support Bitcoin (BTC) transactions on the Lightning Network (LN). The move is a first for a major cryptocurrency exchange, Bitfinex announcing it via its updates mailing list. Exchange eyes free and instant BTC payments Users will benefit from instant transactions and will pay almost zero fees to send funds via Lightning. The reveal appears to correspond to the first of two …

Tether-affiliated crypto exchange Bitfinex is battling a new class action complaint, deemed by the firm to be both “mercenary and baseless.” In an announcement published on Nov. 24, the exchange revealed the lawsuit was filed against both companies in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington two days prior, on Nov. 22 — allegedly without advance notice. Bitfinex: no “nuisance settlements” will be reached Bitfinex’s post uses sharp language to cast aspersions on the motivation and legitimacy of the fresh legal action. The exchange compares the purportedly “copycat lawsuit” to one filed earlier this fall, at …

Blockchain education platform Longhash has released research that it claims debunks the recent single-whale theory of the 2017 Bitcoin (BTC) bull run. On Nov. 18, researchers at crypto analytics firm Longhash announced that they have calculated a metric called “Tether Purchasing Power,” which shows more insight into the question of whether Tether (USDT) was used to manipulate the cryptocurrency markets. Tether’s ability to manipulate the markets is when BTC’s price falls According to Longhash, the metric measures how much BTC could be bought with the entire Tether supply at any given time, pointing out that the higher the ratio, the …

Tether has issued a response to a recently surfaced paper that alleges that a single whale manipulated the market to cause 2017’s bull run in Bitcoin (BTC) price. The response Tether, which is behind the dollar-backed stablecoin USDT, published the response on the company’s website on Nov. 7, an announcement that crypto exchange and sister company Bitfinex echoed on the same day. In no uncertain terms, Tether denied the findings of the coming paper, even accusing the authors — John M. Griffin and Amin Shams — of unethical motivations: “To obtain publication, Griffin and Shams have released a weakened yet …

Just a single player or entity was allegedly responsible for Bitcoin’s historic price surge, as suggested by a recently updated academic paper titled “Is Bitcoin Really Un-Tethered?” Originally released in the summer of last year, the study claimed that major Bitcoin (BTC) price manipulation occurred in winter 2017, prompting top cryptocurrencies to reach their all-time highs. The Tether (USDT) stablecoin and its issuer Bitfinex played a key role in the alleged hoax, the researchers also argued. The newer version of the paper maintains the same assumption, but additionally asserts that a single whale controlled the price movement. Bitfinex denies all …

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has abruptly canceled its token sale for K.im, Kim Dotcom’s Bitcoin (BTC) content sharing service. In a blog post on Nov. 5, executives said they had agreed not to go ahead with the sale, an initial exchange offering (IEO) which had a planned fundraising goal of $8 million. Bitfinex: Risks have “become clear” The reason, they claimed, was the changing face of regulatory scrutiny over such tokens, which posed potential difficulties for both issuers and investors. “Since we announced the debut of Kimcoin on the Bitfinex Token Sale platform, the regulatory environment has rapidly evolved. The risks …

Major global crypto exchange Bitfinex now supports Bitcoin (BTC) bech32 addresses generation and deposits to bech32 addresses. Following the launch of Bitcoin withdrawals on bech32 addresses on Oct. 29, Bitfinex officially announced on Nov. 4 that the exchange now also supports Bitcoin deposits to bech32. As previously announced, a bech32 Bitcoin address is a Segregated Witness (SegWit) address format specified by Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 0173. Also known as "bc1 addresses,” bech32 format starts with the alphanumeric characters bc1 and consists only of lowercase letters, making each address not case-sensitive. This updated address format provides better protection against typing errors …

Researchers have escalated their claims about market manipulation in winter 2017, now claiming that a single whale was responsible for Bitcoin’s historic price surge. The development was reported by Bloomberg on Nov. 4. John M. Griffin and Amin Shams — of the universities of Texas and Ohio respectively — have updated their previous research, which made the case that market misconduct was allegedly behind Bitcoin’s bull run to an all-time high of $20,000 in December 2017. “Clairvoyant market timing” or manipulation Griffin and Sham’s analysis, first published in a research paper in June 2018, had argued that transaction patterns on …

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex moved 1 .561 million Tether (USDT) from the Omni Protocol to the Liquid Bitcoin (BTC) sidechain. Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino announced the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin’s protocol swap on Twitter on Nov. 2. The conversion increases the quantity of USDT available on the network after the stablecoin was first launched on the Liquid sidechain at the end of July. Ardoino said that the development will have a beneficial effect on the protocol: “Liquid sidechain has now more liquidity for atomic swaps and cross-exchange arbitrage.” A sidechain in rapid development In July, Liquid developer Blockstream launched a new tool …