{"id":380222,"date":"2019-04-30T11:18:48","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T11:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniquehot.com\/?p=380222"},"modified":"2024-06-11T07:39:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:39:56","slug":"tether-scandal-could-cause-big-bitcoin-short-squeeze-boosting-btc-analyst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniquehot.com\/news\/tether-scandal-could-cause-big-bitcoin-short-squeeze-boosting-btc-analyst\/","title":{"rendered":"Tether Scandal Could Cause Big Bitcoin Short Squeeze, Boosting BTC: Analyst"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, the crypto community was shocked when the New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) office revealed that Tether Limited, the issuer of the USDT asset, and world-renowned Bitcoin<\/a> (BTC) exchange Bitfinex may be in precarious financial standing.<\/p>\n

Related Reading: Bitcoin and Crypto Investors Are Torn Over Using Bitfinex After Accusation<\/a><\/h6>\n

Respected sources, however, claim that Bitfinex is trying to get off of the purported thin ice, potentially through a deal that could be valued at as much as $1 billion.<\/p>\n

Bitfinex IEO Could Be On The Horizon<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First, let’s take a brief look at how the Hong Kong-headquartered Bitfinex, one of the earliest Bitcoin exchanges, got to a point where it would consider raising $1 billion.<\/p>\n

For those who missed the memo, last Thursday, the NYAG, Letitia James, stated that iFinex, the holding company of both Tether and Bitfinex, may be participating in “ongoing activities that may have defrauded” cryptocurrency investors. A 23-page document<\/a> signed by Brian Whitehurst, the Assistant Attorney General, unveiled more about the situation.<\/p>\n

It was stated that as per the authority’s investigations, Bitfinex currently has an $850 million hole in its books, due to an inability to obtain these funds from Crypto Capital, a Panama-based payments processor. Crypto Capital is believed to have the assets under its management frozen by governmental entities in Poland, Portugal, and the United States.<\/p>\n

As a result, Bitfinex went into a frenzy, purportedly searching for funds to satisfy customer withdrawal requests and business expenses.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the exchange’s management determined that the best course of action would be to secure a line of credit with the affiliated Tether Limited, the firm behind the USDT stablecoin. Whitehurst then revealed that Bitfinex still has a $700 million line of credit, backed by shares in iFinex, open with Tether.<\/p>\n

As the prominent trading platform is presumed to still be in Tether’s debt, rumors have begun to swirl around how the exchange will pay its dues. Per Dovey Wan, the founding partner of Primitive Ventures, the company is planning to raise $1 billion through the sale of Bitfinex-branded tokens and an on-platform initial coin offering, more commonly referred to as an IEO. What’s notable is that this $1 billion will be raised primarily in USDT, not Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

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BREAKING and WTF \ud83e\udd2f\ud83e\udd2f\ud83e\udd2f\ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n

Bitfinex is planning on a exchange token sale + IEO… plan to raise $1B in $USDT<\/a>…. <\/p>\n

This is really a WTF situation \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f<\/p>\n

— Dovey "Rug the fiat" Wan (hiring) (@DoveyWan) April 29, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n