Bitfinex and Tether hit back at mismanagement claims

Bitfinex, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, and Tether, which issues dollar-pledged cryptocurrency, have finally broken their silence. A spokesperson for both companies yesterday blamed "questionable actors" for causing doubts about them. He expressed the commitment of Bitfinex to being the "most transparent cryptocurrency exchange". He also slammed the biggest Bitfinex critic "Bitfinex'd" for being an anonymous social media user who makes allegations without even revealing his/her own identity. Conversely, he explained that Bitfinex is transparent and led by a strong team of managers - though, interestingly, he did not name any of those managers, and their names are not listed on the company's website. Confirmed Links One noteworthy thing to take from the statement is the confirmation that there is a link between Bitfinex and Tether. This has long been speculated, but it was the Paradise Papers leak that confirmed it. Notably, Tether hasn't identified any of its leaders yet either. The statement about Bitfinex also addressed concerns about Tether's reserves. Apparently, a full audit has been performed and will be released in the near future, while an interim report indicated that the company had $442.9 million committed as of Sept. 15 to back the Tether tokens. However, there are question marks surrounding that report as well. Apologies Back on the topic of Bitfinex, the statement apologises for the long silence, citing the company's growing exchange volume as the main reason. It notes that Bitfinex has suffered the same troubles as other cryptocurrency exchanges in that it has lost numerous US-based banking relationships. It said that, in response to this, the roster of international banking partners has been expanded to maintain "consistent liquidity" for traders. No specific banks were named, however, and none of the speculation about the exchange printing Tether tokens to drive up bitcoin prices was, either. All that was said was that financial regulators, compliance personnel and law enforcement were all being worked with to protect customers.