Popular stablecoin Tether has announced 1:1 redemptions of USDT to fiat, while affiliated crypto exchange Bitfinex added two new Tether-fiat trading pairs, according to announcements from both firms Tuesday, Nov. 27. Tether announced the direct redemption of Tether to fiat along with a major redesign of its platform for the verification of new customers. According to the official announcement, the update allows users to redeem their tokens on the Tether.to platform at a USDT to fiat ratio of 1:1. All Tether deposits and withdrawals are zero-fee, while fiat transfers are are subject to commissions. Tether customers will be limited to …

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has focused its investigation crypto market manipulation on whether or not Tether (USDT) was used to artificially inflate Bitcoin (BTC) prices during last year’s momentous rally, Bloomberg reports Nov. 20. Bloomberg cites three unnamed sources “familiar with the matter” who allege that the DoJ has “honed in” on the triad of Bitcoin, Tether, and its affiliated crypto exchange Bitfinex — the latter two of which share a CEO, Jan Ludovicus van der Velde. The sources have reportedly alleged that the DoJ is looking into how Tether issues its new tokens and why the majority …

Tether, issuer of stablecoin USDT, says it has “redeemed a significant amount” of tokens from the circulating supply and will now “destroy” 500 million USDT from the Tether treasury wallet, in an official post published Oct. 24. According to the firm, this will leave 446 million USDT remaining in its treasury in preparation for future USDT issuances — meaning that those tokens redeemed and “burned” account for 52.8 percent of the total former supply. The redemption is visible on the OMNI blockchain explorer, which shows a confirmed transaction dated today of 500 million USDT in block 547155. Tether’s announcement directs …

Major crypto exchange Bitfinex has responded to a recent media report that accused the exchange of publishing trading volume data from “a market that doesn’t exist,” in a tweet posted Oct. 23. The controversy centers on an article from crypto media outlet CoinDesk, which had alleged that Bitfinex’s data on popular crypto statistics aggregator CoinMarketCap (CMC) was misleadingly inflated by reporting on a stablecoin Tether (USDT)-U.S. dollar trading pair, which as of press time appears to account for $33,598,474 — or 18.30 percent — of a total 24-hour traded volume of $182,742,351. The article had argued that since the exchange …

On October 8, Hong-Kong-based exchange Bitfinex has announced that it is not under the immediate threat of insolvency and the related rumors are unsubstantiated, as well as false. According to the company’s press release, all cryptocurrency and fiat withdrawals are and have been processing as usual without the slightest interference. After some mild clarifications, tension is rising in the crypto community – the spread between Bitcoin prices on Bitfinex and other exchanges, on October 15, reached $1,000 against the massive sale of Tether (USDT). In the meantime, Bitfinex is testing its improved solutions, it remains to be seen about the …

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. Tether, a cryptocurrency that has long been a point of contention in the community, has seemingly been uppegged from the US Dollar. The stablecoin, by virtue of that very description, was linked to the US Dollar at a 1:1 ratio. Simply put, every Tether token that was minted had to be backed by a US Dollar. Concerns around the validity of Tether’s reserves of fiat currency corresponding to the circulating amount of tokens seem …

Cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex has reportedly shifted its banking business to the Hong Kong-based Bank of Communications, the Block reported Oct. 16. A source familiar with the matter reportedly said that Bitfinex appears to be banking with the Bank of Communications through the private account “Prosperity Revenue Merchandising Limited.” According to the Block, Bank of Communications — which is partly owned by HSBC — has been using U.S.-based Citibank as the intermediary bank for U.S. dollar wire transfers to Bitfinex. The Block speculates that HSBC — with whom Bitfinex previously conducted its banking business — was unaware it was providing …

Major crypto exchange Bitfinex has introduced an “improved” fiat deposit system, shortly after temporary suspension of deposits last week, according to an official blog post Tuesday, Oct. 16. Last week, on Oct. 11, Bitfinex temporarily halted fiat deposits in four fiat currencies – the Euro (EUR), U.S. Dollar (USD), Japanese Yen (JPY), and Pound Sterling (GBP) – without specifying a reason for suspension and claiming that fiat deposits are “expected to resume within a week.” Yesterday, October 15, the crypto exchange posted an update on fiat deposits, explaining that Bitfinex had “temporarily paused” fiat deposits for “certain user groups [...] …

Major crypto exchange Bitfinex has temporarily suspended all fiat wire deposits for the Euro, U.S. Dollar, Japanese Yen and Pound Sterling. This is according to several reports today, Oct. 11. While the exchange has not specified a reason for the suspension, it states that deposits are “expected to resume within a week.” As reported Oct. 8, the exchange has recently been prompted to officially respond to online rumours that claimed Bitfinex was insolvent and/or facing banking issues. As part of its recent statement, the exchange acknowledged that “complications continue to exist” for Bitfinex “in the domain of fiat transactions,” but …

The Liquid Network sidechain for the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain went live on Sept. 27, according to an Oct. 10 post from Blockstream. Blockstream is a blockchain development company founded in 2014, with Samson Mow as its current CSO. The Liquid Network project, first discussed in 2015, was then launched in October 2018 in order to allow for better liquidity between Bitcoin exchanges and brokers. According to Blockstream’s blog post, the Liquid blockchain generated its first block on Sept. 27, 2018 at 1:29 UTC with participation from 23 crypto industry members including Bitfinex, OKCoin, BitMEX, and the SIX Digital Exchange. The …

Major crypto exchange Bitfinex has responded to a recent swathe of online rumors, denying that the firm is “insolvent” or facing banking issues, in an official blog post published October 7. Bitfinex’s rebuttal comes in the wake of last week’s reports that the exchange’s banking partner, Puerto Rico’s Noble Bank International, is seeking a buyer and had lost both Bitfinex and affiliated firm Tether — who share a CEO, Jan Ludovicus van der Velde — as clients. In addition to Noble’s apparent woes, online bloggers were claiming that Bitfinex itself was insolvent, citing unverified reports of difficulties processing fiat withdrawals …

This week, EOS found itself in hot water after allegations arose that a major part of its blockchain governnance, led by Chinese crypto exchange Huobi may be involved in a corruption scheme. EOS’ parent company and Huobi have issued public statements since these allegations, but refrained from admitting or denying the charges. What is EOS? EOS.io is a blockchain-powered smart contracts protocol for the development, hosting, and execution of decentralized applications (dApps). It aims to operate in a way similar to the web-based applications and retains similar structural principles, which makes it comparable to Google’s Play Store or Apple’s App …