Bitfinex, one of the oldest crypto trading platforms, has repaid a loan from sister company Tether (USDT).
Bitfinex announced on its website on Feb. 5 that it has closed the books on its loan from Tether. $ 550 million in Fiat have been transferred to Tether’s account.
This means that all interest due is settled. After the payment, the credit line was „canceled“ by Tether.
End of a curious saga
The repayment closes a long chapter in the history of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin Loophole is one of the oldest exchanges for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (To buy Bitcoin cheap guide ) on the market. It was founded in 2012 and quickly made a name for itself in the young industry.
Tether’s USDT, one of the oldest stablecoins, emerged from a white paper in 2012. USDT finally went public in January 2015, on Bitfinex.
The two companies share the same management. As a result, the relationship between the companies has been called into question.
This problem came to a head in April 2019 when an audit found that Tether’s USDT stablecoin was not 100% fiat backed, as Tether claimed. Tether admitted it loaned $ 850 million to Bitfinex to cover losses from the theft by Crypto Capital.
Unfortunately for iFinex, management lost more than just mood. The New York Attorney General brought charges against iFinex for hiding the loan.
In response, Bitfinex spent the next year and a half very publicly making payments to Tether.
Then there is the KuCoin incident
In September 2020, hackers stole more than $ 20 million in USDT from the KuCoin exchange. Other exchanges then froze tens of millions of dollars worth of tether at several addresses linked to the attack.
Bitfinex alone froze USD 13 million on EOS.
What followed was an outcry from crypto enthusiasts who distrust the centralized power of the exchanges. Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino, however, pointed out the responsibility that a stablecoin company „has towards users, regulators and law enforcement agencies.“ The coins were then exchanged.
Warm feelings for Bitfinex
The crypto community commented on the repayment. Twitter user Gabor Gurbacs, for example, wrote about something that had been heard many times about Bitfinex’s efforts.
