Stablecoin issuer Tether said that it had invested some of its reserves in bitcoin (BTC), according to a court filing obtained by tech-focused media outlet the Block on May 21. Per the document dated May 16, David Miller, an attorney for Tether’s associated firm Bitfinex, said that Tether invested “a small amount” of Tether’s reserves into bitcoin, specifying that “prior to the April 24th order … Tether actually did invest in instruments beyond cash and cash equivalents, including bitcoin, they bought bitcoin.” Miller further said that Tether made “other investments, including purchasing other assets.” In response to Miller’s statement, New …

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 …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has unveiled its exchange utility token UNUS SED LEO, in a press release on May 17. The token will be useable for a variety of exchange-based activities and will begin trading on Bitfinex on May 20 against tether (USDT), bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), U.S. dollars and EOS pairs. The whitepaper for the project, published on May 10, describes LEO as “a utility token at the heart of the iFinex ecosystem.” iFinex is the parent company of Bitfinex. iFinex purports that it provides a stronger and more independent infrastructure, having migrated from Amazon Web Services to a …

While it’s possible to buy top cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) in the over-the-counter (OTC) market, most people will need an exchange in order to buy other altcoins. Exchanges are simply an important component of the system that makes the crypto market tick. Regulators around the world have identified this, which is why regulatory moves have primarily targeted exchanges. Regulators want to be sure that exchanges employ the best security practices as well as measures — Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), for instance — that discourage illicit transactions and …

Justice Joel Cohen of the New York Supreme Court has granted the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange’s motion to modify an injunction from the New York Attorney General (NYAG), Bitfinex announced on May 16. Per the announcement, the court order will allow Bitfinex and affiliated stablecoin operator Tether to continue their normal business. It also states that the original injunction by the NYAG will expire in 90 days and that any motion to renew will be the responsibility of the NYAG. Cohen wrote in his decision: “...the Court finds that the preliminary injunction should be tailored to address OAG’s legitimate law enforcement …

Blockchain data provider TokenAnalyst estimates that capital outflows from major crypto exchanges have exceeded inflows by ~$622 million over the past five days, Bloomberg reported on May 15. London-based TokenAnalyst has reportedly based its figure on an analysis of withdrawals and capital inflows on multiple crypto trading platforms — including Bitfinex, BitMEX, Binance and Kraken. While bitcoin (BTC) continues to rally and hit multi-month highs, Bloomberg’s report also makes the claim that its strong price performance may in part be inflated by recent capital flight from investors unsettled by the spate of controversies affecting crypto exchange Bitfinex and affiliated USD …

Lawyers for parent firm iFinex Inc., Bitfinex, USD stablecoin issuer Tether and affiliated entities have submitted a letter to Justice Joel M. Cohen on May 13 asking for more leniency in the use of cash restrictions imposed by last month’s injunction. On April 24, the office of the Office of the New York Attorney General (NY OAG) had accused Bitfinex of losing $850 million of funds needed for user redemptions, and subsequently using capital from affiliated firm Tether to secretly cover the shortfall. Last week, Cohen had noted that the scope of the OAG court order was too broad, and …

The CTO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex appeared to confirm the entity had raised $1 billion in fresh investment in new social media comments on May 13. Following rumors that began with a major shareholder in the platform announcing $1 billion confirmed in hard and soft commitments, CTO Paolo Ardoino took to Twitter on Monday to report that Bitfinex’s private token sale, which ended May 11, had sold out. The sale, which involves new in-house LEO tokens via a so-called initial exchange offering (IEO), comes as Bitfinex grapples with a funding gap of $850 million and an associated legal indictment. “Private …

Top Stories This Week Hackers Withdraw 7,000 Bitcoins in Binance Crypto Exchange Security Breach Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by daily trade volume, experienced a security breach this week, losing a little over 7,000 bitcoins (BTC). CEO Changpeng Zhao stated at the time that the bitcoins were withdrawn from its hot wallets, which contain only 2% of the exchange’s total bitcoin holdings. In the interim, proceeds from the hack have been moved to seven addresses. CZ devoted a live AMA on Twitter to address community concerns in the wake of the hack, also discussing the idea of a …

Crypto exchange Bitfinex shareholder Zhao Dong has reportedly revealed that the exchange has sealed $1 billion in both hard and soft commitments for its initial native exchange token offering. The news was reported by crypto news outlet Coindesk on May 9. As previously reported, plans to issue a native Bitfinex exchange token first surfaced in late April, with later details revealed by Dong and a subsequent ostensibly official marketing paper allegedly from iFinex, the company behind both Bitfinex and associated stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT). A white paper published by Bitfinex on May 8 confirmed that the exchange intends to issue …

Joseph Lubin, founder of blockchain tech company ConsenSys, expressed his pessimism regarding the recent situation with cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex, Bloomberg reported on May 9. Speaking at the Fluidity Summit conference, Lubin said that “it seems like a really big mess that probably won’t get better. Tether is somewhat important to our ecosystem because it’s used by different institutions to effect more fluid trading.” Lubin noted however, that the turmoil surrounding Tether and Bitfinex could drive growth in other stablecoins: “There are other price-stable tokens out there — many others — and I think they’re going to gain traction because …

Embattled cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex confirmed it would conduct a $1 billion so-called initial exchange offering (IEO) in a whitepaper issued on May 8. Bitfinex, which faces ongoing legal scrutiny from authorities who accuse it of losing $850 million, had hinted it would seek to sell its own tokens earlier this month. The release of a formal whitepaper reveals few changes from the original rumors, with the sale of up to 1 billion LEO tokens, each worth 1 tether (USDT), lasting until May 11. Investors will be able to use to tokens for various on-exchange activities, while Bitfinex, if the entire …