Crypto payment gateway Bitfinex Pay has integrated with MetaMask, the popular browser and wallet extension powered by ConsenSys, potentially opening the door to tens of millions of users. The integration, which officially went live on Friday, gives Metamask’s more than 10 million active users access to Bitfinex Pay. By logging into their wallet, MetaMask users will have the ability to send and receive cryptocurrency payments directly through the payment gateway. Merchants wishing to accept payments through Bitfinex Pay must first register an account and verify their identity with Bitfinex, the parent company of the payment platform. Once verified, merchants can …

Cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex is preparing to test out a new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) tool on its platform. The firm announced Wednesday that it will be testing a new solution designed for complying with the “Travel Rule,” an AML/Counter Financing of Terrorism regulation for financial institutions introduced by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2019. Bitfinex partnered with compliance startup Notabene to implement its software-as-a-service solution to identify virtual asset accounts, track cross-border transactions and comply with other broad obligations of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The integration will supposedly allow the firm to ensure privacy while collecting and managing …

On Oct. 15, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, handed sister crypto companies Tether and Bitfinex fines totaling $41 million and $1.5 million, respectively, citing violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, or CEA, and of a prior CFTC order. The regulator has found that Tether, the firm behind an eponymous stablecoin, has only held sufficient fiat reserves to back the dollar-pegged asset for 27.6% of time during the 26-month period under review between 2016 and 2018. The agency also stated that Tether violated the law by holding part of the reserves in non-fiat financial instruments, as well as by …

The judge in the class-action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York against stablecoin issuer Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex has granted motions to dismiss many of the claims in the case. According to court documents filed Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, District Judge Katherine Polk Failla has granted motions from Tether’s and Bitfinex’s parent company iFinex to dismiss key claims in the plaintiffs’ case that the two firms manipulated the crypto market. Altogether, Judge Failla granted motions to dismiss five complete claims and part of one, while denying six others. Specifically, the judge said …

Crypto exchange Bitfinex completed a highly consequential transaction on Sept. 27 when sending $100,000 of the stablecoin Tether (USDT) to the layer-2 subsidiary platform DeversiFi. For reasons unknown, the exchange paid 7,626 ETH, equivalent to $23.7 million, marking quite possibly the largest gas fee ever recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. According to blockchain data from EtherScan, the deposit transaction was initiated at 11:10 UTC this morning from Bitfinex’s second-largest wallet, via a second address, to the wallet of DeversiFi. The transaction carried an “erroneously high gas fee”, even though DeversiFi promotes a service to “avoid gas costs and frustration, saving …

Crypto exchange Bitfinex has today announced a market-debut service to bridge its centralized platform with the layer-2 decentralized trading platform DeversiFi. The bridge will provide users access to the permissionless and privacy-centric experiences of decentralized finance (DeFi) systems, in combination with the highly liquid, accessible features of centralized finance (CeFi) institutions. A release from the company noted that transactions will be initially exclusive to Tether (USDT) — a stablecoin affiliated with the exchange — but may eventually open up to various ERC-20 tokens in the future. Ethereum-based DeversiFi is a trading platform built upon StarkWare’s scalable technology. Two months ago, …

Virgin Islands-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex is moving into the security token offering (STO) industry by launching a new STO platform regulated in Kazakhstan. Bitfinex Securities, Bitfinex’s blockchain-based investment product provider, has launched its investment exchange regulated in Kazakhstan’s national financial hub, the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), the firm officially announced on Monday. The new STO platform will operate under the AIFC Fintech Lab, a regulatory sandbox established in the AIFC by the Astana Financial Services Authority to support development in the financial industry. Bitfinex Securities chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino told Cointelegraph that Bitfinex Securities is operating from a …

In an effort to increase customers' security and privacy on its platform, cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has announced the adoption of open authentication standard universal second factor (U2F) within its merchant payments service, Bitfinex Pay. The move enables the capacity for online stores and merchants adopting the Bitfinex Pay widget to receive payments for goods and services in a range of crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Lightning Network BTC (LN-BTC) and Tether (USDT) on the Ethereum and Tron blockchains. Customers of a registered merchant can choose the "Pay with Bitfinex" option upon checkout. After a brief detour through the …

Canada-based Bitcoin (BTC) infrastructure firm Blockstream, co-founded by cryptographer and cypherpunk Adam Back, has hit unicorn status with its latest valuation at $3.2 billion. The company, which focuses on various Bitcoin-related areas — including operating as a mining service provider and developing renewables-based infrastructure intended to “green” the veteran cryptocurrency — has raised $210 million in its latest financing round, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. Blockstream’s new backers, which join existing investors such as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, are the United Kingdom-based private equity firm Baillie Gifford and Hong Kong-based iFinex, the operator of crypto exchange Bitfinex. …

Bitcoin (BTC) hiked 20% in seven days in an unexpected move that brought the price to its highest level since May 18. The price appreciation happened despite United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reportedly supporting a broader definition of crypto companies in the HR 3684 infrastructure bill currently being considered in the U.S. Senate. Even though Bitcoin’s price continues to surge higher, investors are worried that regulation could erase the recent gains, but derivatives indicators show no sign of confidence from the bears. The proposal mandates that digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 are to be reported to the …

A 2022 trial date has been set for former NFL team owner and alleged “shadow banker” Reggie Fowler. Fowler is the accused operator of the shadow bank to the crypto sector, Crypto Capital, which was at the center of controversy in the court case against iFinex Inc — the parent company of crypto exchange Bitfinex and stablecoin issuer Tether. According to Wednesday court documents, United States District Judge Andrew Carter of the Southern District of New York has set a jury selection and trial date for Feb. 14, 2022, which is subject to change in light of future pandemic-related restrictions. …

Bitcoin (BTC) bears should watch out for a potential blow as the number of margined short positions on the Bitfinex exchange crashes by roughly 25%. The dataset dropped to 11,066 BTC as of 12:20 GMT Saturday, compared to 14,897 BTC at the session's open. Meanwhile, the drop came as a part of a bigger downside move that started on July 15. On the day, the total number of margined short positions had reached 17,053 BTC. In simple terms, BTCUSDSHORTS represents the number of margined bearish positions on Bitfinex, measured in BTC. Traders borrow funds from Bitfinex — their broker — …