Bitfinex Tether Issue Continues | CoinFlip and Tron Postpone Plans

Last week, news about the Bitfinex and Tether issue surfaced when The New York Attorney General’s office said it received a court order against iFinex, the company behind Bitfinex and Tether. While Bitfinex has issued a response to the claims made by the NYAG, the issue hasn’t gone away. If anything, things are worse. On Wednesday, CoinFlip announced it is going to postpone tether buying “until the smoke clears.”

Here’s what we know.

Bitfinex and Tether Issue Continues

On April 25, NYAG Letitia James said her department is looking into Bitfinex and iFinex. Why? Because iFinex allegedly “engaged in a cover-up to hide the apparent loss of $850 million.” Unsurprisingly, Bitfinex did not take the news well. The “court filings were written in bad faith,” said the crypto exchange.

While it was smart for Bitfinex to issue a response quickly, it didn’t stop CoinFlip from postponing tether buying.

According to reports, CoinFlip was going to add the TRON version of USDT to over 180 of its machines in the United States. But now that’s not happening. According to CoinFlip CEO Daniel Polotsky, this rollout has been put on hold because of the Bitfinex and Tether issue. He told CoinDesk on Wednesday that “given the news, we are going to be postponing our launch until the smoke clears (if it ever does).” Polotsky added the crypto ATM startup wants to make sure Bitfinex and Tether are “operating 100% lawfully before offering their products.”

Not Just CoinFlip

It’s not just CoinFlip that has postponed plans because of the Bitfinex and Tether issue. Yesterday, Justin Sun, the CEO of TRON, said he is postponing TRON’s $20 million rewards program. According to Sun, the program will be postponed “until there’s more clarity” regarding the Bitfinex and Tether issue.

I’ve decided to postpone our #USDT rewards program for future updates until there’s more clarity regarding @bitfinex and @Tether_to. Regardless, I firmly believe stablecoins will continue to play a big role in the blockchain space. $TRX #TRX #BTT $BTT https://t.co/xpe1eA2URK

— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) May 1, 2019

>> CoinMarketCap Data Accountability and Transparency Alliance

Takeaway

What do you think about The New York Attorney General’s office looking into Bitfinex and iFinex? Do you think CoinFlip and TRON were right to postpone their plans?

Let us know in the comments below!