Bitfinex Bites at NYAG, Claims Alleged ‘New York Customers’ are Foreign Entities
Bitfinex and the New York State Attorney General have embroiled in an aggressive game of ping pong, continuously hitting back at each other’s remarks. In the latest episode, the NYAG claimed Bitfinex serviced New York State customers as early as January 2019. Bitfinex as now hit back saying they were actually foreign entities, as reported by Finder, July 23, 2019.
Bitfinex Rebuts Claims
Regulatory issues have been the crux of crypto in 2019. The saga between Bitfinex and the NYAG, in particular, has been dragging on for the past few months and weighing in on the market.
Bitfinex was accused of siphoning off customer funds and utilizing a shadow banking system with the help of Reginald Fowler. In the latest accusations, the NYAG claims Bitfinex has been servicing American clients despite the exchange’s claims that they haven’t.
In a statement against the accusation, Bitfinex claims that the entities listed by the NYAG as New York customers are actually foreign entities that have contact and relations with New York. These foreign entities may have shareholders or representatives who are associated with New York, but the entities themselves have nothing to do with the United States, let alone the state of New York.
Bitfinex reportedly took a loan from Tether after authorities seized a sizeable portion of the money, subsequently paying it back to the stablecoin operator after the money was returned.
The current argument for the case runs on a narrative that questions the involvement of the NYAG if no customers from New York are involved in the first place. Bitfinex claimed to have left America to avoid these very regulatory headaches they are currently being pulled into.
Exchanges shun the United States
The onslaught of regulatory proceedings in the United States stands testimony to the will of exchanges to relocate to alternate jurisdictions. BitMex and Bitfinex are being investigated by regulators while Binance has decided that it isn’t worth the pain to cater to American customers.
This leaves Coinbase to dominate North America and overtake Binance as the leading cryptocurrency exchange by volume. With exchanges shunning the United States, you would think customers would be devoid of options. But the innovation happening on American soil and financial infrastructure development for crypto far outweigh that of any other region.
