A New York Supreme Court has found that veteran cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and its related stablecoin company Tether (USDT) must face claims they concealed the loss of commingled corporate and client funds. The claims were brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has accused firms associated with Bitfinex and several associated companies of hiding more than $850 million in lost funds. Bitfinex asserts that its funds were deposited with Crypto Capital — a Panamanian firm accused of providing shadow banking services to virtual currency exchanges — before being seized by government authorities in various countries. They are working …

Reports circulating in Chinese media allege that Zhao Dong, head of the over-the-counter (OTC) crypto lending platform RenrenBit, has been detained by local police. The validity of these reports is not known at this time. Some say Dong is currently in a police station in Hangzhou, others claim he is in Yancheng. Matthew Graham, chief of Sino Global Capital, said through Twitter that reports about Zhao’s current situation seem “confirmed.” RenrenBit allegedly operating “as usual” Graham clarifies that being detained is not the same as being arrested. He notes that the alleged detention may not have anything to do with …

Veteran cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has announced an open-source peer-to-peer data streaming platform that will allow users to share media across a decentralized network. The code for Bitfinex's "Dazaar" protocol has been uploaded to GitHub, describing a decentralized network in which distributed node operators store the information shared among users. In an announcement, Bitfinex states that the platform’s creation was motivated by the increasing reliance on centralized platforms such as search engines, social media, and messaging apps to facilitate the sharing of data and media. Bitfinex open-sources P2P streaming protocol Bitfinex describes the Dazaar platform as a crypto-powered protocol for monetized …

Cryptocurrency market data aggregator Glassnode has reported that the number of Bitcoins (BTC) held on centralized exchanges has fallen to a 12-month low. The decline in exchange reserves comes amid numerous recent records for open interest in Bitcoin futures contracts, suggesting that many traders may be over-leveraged. Less than 15% of Bitcoin is held on exchanges On June 24, Glassnode reported a new yearly low in the number of BTC held on exchanges, with more than 2.624 million BTC. As such, the number of Bitcoin custodied on centralized exchanges has fallen by 10% since February of this year. The decline …

Tether (USDT) makes a $10 million equity investment in the crypto lending platform Celsius Network (CEL) at a $120 million pre-money valuation, bringing the post-money valuation to $150 million. The company is raising a total of $30 million in equity which will bring its valuation to $150 million, but the round hasn’t closed yet. In 2018, Celsius completed a $50 million ICO. Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky told Cointelgraph that his company has continued its policy of not fundraising from venture capital. Investors will have no say Mashinsky also pointed out that the equity sold in this round does not come …

Major cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced support for Aussie dollar (AUD) trading pairs and account funding. Australian dollars will be tradeable against Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Tether (USDT) on the platform. AUD is the seventh fiat currency to be supported by Kraken, joining USD, CAD, EUR, JPY, GBP, and CHF. Kraken clients based outside of the United States will also be able to trade AUD-based foreign exchange pairs against USD, EUR, and JPY. Kraken launches AUD funding support Kraken will launch AUD support on June 17, with Australian users able to deposit …

Despite yesterday’s 8% crash in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) driving many BTC bulls from the markets, altcoin longs have only seen slight declines, with Ether (ETH) longs defying the trend with a slight rally test of recent all-time highs on Bitfinex. However, altcoin bears are quickly emerging from the woods, with shorts against many top altcoins piling up quickly amid Bitcoin’s recent drop. With many altcoin bulls holding on despite the increase in shorts, numerous leading crypto assets could see a surge in liquidations regardless of what direction the markets ultimately take. Bitcoin longs retrace heavily The BTC shake-out …

Data appears to contradict Bitfinex’s claim that the reason for its users withdrawing 135,000 Bitcoin (BTC) from the exchange was an arbitrage opportunity that ensued following Black Thursday. 135,000 BTC later On Thursday, March 12, Bitfinex was holding 200,000 BTC. By May 25, this number dwindled to just 65,000 BTC. This is a 67% decrease over the span of two and a half months. Bitfinex Bitcoin Balance. Source: Glassnode Data contradicts Bitfinex’s explanation In a Cointelegraph interview, Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino stated the driving factor behind this trend was the fact that following March 12, BTC price on the exchange …

Recently, some of the 120,000 Bitcoin (BTC) that was stolen from Bitfinex in 2016 started moving again. Here is what has been happening with this stash of coins valued at over $1 billion. 2016 Bitfinex hack summary. Source: Crystal. $1 billion in BTC waiting to be dumped Thus far, the hackers have moved less than 3,000 BTC out of almost 120,000 BTC that they managed to steal from the exchange. The highest proportion of coins that have been spent went to darknet marketplaces, with the Russain giant Hydra leading the pack with 736 BTC. This is worrisome, as it would …

Cointelegraph’s weekly newsletter on the latest in law, policy and regulation for the crypto and fintech industry. Editor’s note A lockdown spring is giving way to a protest summer in the U.S., and this will be an especially U.S.-focused edition of Law Decoded. Washington’s focus has shifted from the novel coronavirus over to the mass demonstrations around the country as well as near the White House. The world watches the combined police and military response that has met the protests. Policymakers are still working to clean up the mess that COVID-19 has made, with the House only recently returning to …

Bitfinex and Tether have denied all allegations featured in an amended class action lawsuit filed against their parent company, iFinex Inc, according to a blog post published today by Bitfinex. The updated lawsuit, filed on June 3 in the Southern District of New York, accuses Bitfinex, Tether, Poloniex and affiliated firms of allegedly manipulating the crypto market. The initial lawsuit was filed in October 2019. The 156-page claim mentions Matthew Script, Benjamin Leibowitz, Jason Leibowitz, Aaron Leibowitz, and Pinchas Goldshtein as plaintiffs. They are represented by Selendy & Gay PLLC, Roche Cyrulink Freedman LLP and Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP. …

The plaintiffs behind a class-action alleging that Bittrex and Tether drove the 2017 bull run through market manipulation have requested the issuance of summons to exchanges Bittrex and Poloniex. The lawsuit, first filed in October 2019, alleges that veteran cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and its sister company Tether inflated the supply of Tether’s USDT stablecoin without proper US dollar backing to drive up crypto prices during 2017’s all-time high. The suit is on behalf of investors who purchased crypto assets at what they believe are artificially inflated prices. The Plaintiffs have requested that the Court award reasonable costs of suit, pre- …