Someone said unverified accounts in the USA can still use Bitfinex for as long as they want, is there any truth to this?
Sounds like a great way to get your funds frozen sooner or later. 
Topic: [OFFICIAL]Bitfinex.com first Bitcoin P2P lending platform for leverage trading - page 30. (Read 723903 times)
November 17, 2017, 03:27:03 AM
November 17, 2017, 03:02:31 AM
Someone said unverified accounts in the USA can still use Bitfinex for as long as they want, is there any truth to this?
I don't know who the source of this information is or where they got it from but there is no official statement from Bitfinex to that effect. I can't really see Bitfinex spending any time trying to track down and ban unverified USA accounts as it is not really in their interest to do so. The reason they made the decision to close those accounts is to protect themselves from any possible legal action. If they can show that they made "reasonable" attempts to stop customers from the USA by asking them to leave that would be enough legally in my opinion.
November 16, 2017, 09:43:08 PM
Someone said unverified accounts in the USA can still use Bitfinex for as long as they want, is there any truth to this?
November 12, 2017, 07:30:31 AM
Have you read the actual audit? They didn´t review banking statements that go back years or even months. They just took a look at the balances as of 15th September, 2017.
They do say they looked at the balances but they also say this:
Friedman LLP explicitly states in the audit that they didn´t even review the terms of the banking relationships at all!
FLLP did not review the specific terms of the clients account agreements with the banks.
FLLP did not review the specific terms of the clients account agreements with the banks.
They were auditing whether the money existed, that's just a disclaimer stating what other things they didn't do.
November 12, 2017, 07:10:47 AM
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This is the problem with conspiracy theories, they are just that, theories that someone thought up. They may be hard to disprove and probably sound quite reasonable or possible, but there is no evidence to support them and they can usually be ruled out as being extremely unlikely.
...
There is no way that a legitimate accountancy firm would be fooled by that. They would need confirmation and records, directly from the banks, for several months or even years of banking transaction records before they were comfortable signing it off.
...
Their banks have access to Google and would be negligent beyond belief if they didn't know what Tether was even before Freidman LLP approached them to do an audit. The banks fully understand the true purpose of the business.
This is the problem with conspiracy theories, they are just that, theories that someone thought up. They may be hard to disprove and probably sound quite reasonable or possible, but there is no evidence to support them and they can usually be ruled out as being extremely unlikely.
...
There is no way that a legitimate accountancy firm would be fooled by that. They would need confirmation and records, directly from the banks, for several months or even years of banking transaction records before they were comfortable signing it off.
...
Their banks have access to Google and would be negligent beyond belief if they didn't know what Tether was even before Freidman LLP approached them to do an audit. The banks fully understand the true purpose of the business.
I concede that a random user on Twitter may not be the most accurate source.
Regarding the bolded claim:
Friedman LLP explicitly states in the audit that they didn´t even review the terms of the banking relationships at all!
Quote
FLLP did not review the specific terms of the clients account agreements with the banks.
Have you read the actual audit? They didn´t review banking statements that go back years or even months. They just took a look
at the balances as of 15th September, 2017.
If anyone wants to take a further look:
https://tether.to/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Final-Tether-Consulting-Report-9-15-17_Redacted.pdf
November 12, 2017, 06:56:23 AM
TheQuin is right, there were several audits. However, these contain various flaws or loopholes. One user on twitter raised the possibility
This is the problem with conspiracy theories, they are just that, theories that someone thought up. They may be hard to disprove and probably sound quite reasonable or possible, but there is no evidence to support them and they can usually be ruled out as being extremely unlikely.
that some entity simply provided the necessary money for the duration of the audit (some kind of overnight credit), which doesn´t prove at all that the funds are actually stored in Tether´s bank accounts at other times.
There is no way that a legitimate accountancy firm would be fooled by that. They would need confirmation and records, directly from the banks, for several months or even years of banking transaction records before they were comfortable signing it off.
Besides, it is possible that they use various corporate entities without informing the banks of the true purpose of what they are doing, which would be mispresenting the nature of your business.
Their banks have access to Google and would be negligent beyond belief if they didn't know what Tether was even before Freidman LLP approached them to do an audit. The banks fully understand the true purpose of the business.
November 12, 2017, 06:40:35 AM
...
And what does mean?
For us, simple traders at Bitfinex? What are your doubts more specifically? Do you mean that they create Tethers out of thin air? How are they supposed to be created and on which basis? As far as I understand it, the amount of Tether tokens in circulation should match the amount of dollars injected into the system, right? In other words, the whole purpose of this operation is to create a parallel quasi-banking system which would allow people to buy cryptocurrencies with real dollars bypassing banks (most likely, American banks)
And what does mean?
For us, simple traders at Bitfinex? What are your doubts more specifically? Do you mean that they create Tethers out of thin air? How are they supposed to be created and on which basis? As far as I understand it, the amount of Tether tokens in circulation should match the amount of dollars injected into the system, right? In other words, the whole purpose of this operation is to create a parallel quasi-banking system which would allow people to buy cryptocurrencies with real dollars bypassing banks (most likely, American banks)
There are various possibilities:
1. Tethers are created out of thin air without any backing whatsoever
2. Tethers are partly legitimately backed by real money and another part of the outstanding Tethers is unbacked = Tether is running a fractional reserve (more likely in my opinion)
3. Tethers are completely backed but the source of the funds is problematic
(e.g. https://twitter.com/btcecom/status/853142083527245824?lang=de)
We all know what happened to BTC-E and if large part of these funds ended up at Tether this could indicate a high possibility of involvement of various
US government agencies
4. Tether is completely legit and all funds are completely backed by real money (this is also a possibility, but I view the whole Tether situation with increasing scepticism)
TheQuin is right, there were several audits. However, these contain various flaws or loopholes. One user on twitter raised the possibility that
some entity simply provided the necessary money for the duration of the audit (some kind of overnight credit), which doesn´t prove at all
that the funds are actually stored in Tether´s bank accounts at other times.
Besides, it is possible that they use various corporate entities without informing the banks of the true purpose of what they are doing, which
would be mispresenting the nature of your business.
November 12, 2017, 06:37:03 AM
please read and THINK with YOUR brain:
I do and that is why I tend to put far more weight upon an article in the Financial Times, one of the most respected journals in existence, than I do on some post on Medium by someone who can't even use their real name. I also used my brain in doing a bit of research into Freidman LLP. It's a well-respected New York accountancy firm founded in 1924 and is not likely to risk its reputation by vouching for any shady business.
Now you can scream scam as long and loud as you like but you haven't provided a single piece of evidence.
November 12, 2017, 06:04:18 AM
in response to that so called audit, please read and THINK with YOUR brain:
https://medium.com/@bitfinexed/the-mystery-of-the-bitfinex-tether-bank-and-why-this-is-suspicious-a8a6407a1241
Bitfinex is a money launderer, a fraudulent company, an illegal money transmitter without any financial license ; in short, a criminal company.
plain simple .
https://medium.com/@bitfinexed/the-mystery-of-the-bitfinex-tether-bank-and-why-this-is-suspicious-a8a6407a1241
Bitfinex is a money launderer, a fraudulent company, an illegal money transmitter without any financial license ; in short, a criminal company.
plain simple .
November 12, 2017, 05:48:32 AM
"Our reserve account is regularly audited" by whom? I didn't see a genuine audit company (not a shit so called company related with Bitfinex) showing the audit report.
By accountancy firm Friedman LLP. http://www.friedmanllp.com/
In this case specifically, Tether claims that they are regularly audited, so where can we find the audit reports? Are they publicly audited since otherwise these audits (or rather claims) are pretty much inconsequential
From this report in The Financial Times:
https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/10/02/2194319/tethers-transparency-update-is-out/
Quote
As it stands, the release confirms that the Tethers in circulation are more than adequately capitalised by dollar accounts.
November 12, 2017, 05:42:02 AM
For us, simple traders at Bitfinex? What are your doubts more specifically? Do you mean that they create Tethers out of thin air? How are they supposed to be created and on which basis? As far as I understand it, the amount of Tether tokens in circulation should match the amount of dollars injected into the system, right? In other words, the whole purpose of this operation is to create a parallel quasi-banking system which would allow people to buy cryptocurrencies with real dollars bypassing banks (most likely, American banks)
The accusation for the conspiracy theories is exactly that, Tethers are created out of thin air. I haven't seen anything that could be remotely conceived of evidence for it. The usual approach is just to point out that the people behind Bitfinex are also involved in Tether and assert therefore it must be a scam.
Everyone is free to make up their own mind who they believe:
https://wallet.tether.to/transparency
Quote
All tethers are backed 100% by actual assets in our reserve account
Our reserve account is regularly audited
Our reserve account is regularly audited
Or you can go with what anonymous accounts post on internet forums.
"Our reserve account is regularly audited" by whom? I didn't see a genuine audit company (not a shit so called company related to Bitfinex) showing the audit report.
Bitfinex is a criminal company and it will end like BTC-e.
November 12, 2017, 05:33:58 AM
https://wallet.tether.to/transparency
Or you can go with what anonymous accounts post on internet forums
Quote
All tethers are backed 100% by actual assets in our reserve account
Our reserve account is regularly audited
Our reserve account is regularly audited
Or you can go with what anonymous accounts post on internet forums
I'm not very much interested in what dudes like mayax are posting here
But as the saying goes, just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't after you. It is essentially the same with Tether. If someone slings mud at them (or at Bitfinex, for that matter), it doesn't mean that we shouldn't seek real facts and data for ourselves which would either prove or disprove our suspicions. In this case specifically, Tether claims that they are regularly audited, so where can we find the audit reports? Are they publicly audited since otherwise these audits (or rather claims) are pretty much inconsequential
November 12, 2017, 05:24:50 AM
For us, simple traders at Bitfinex? What are your doubts more specifically? Do you mean that they create Tethers out of thin air? How are they supposed to be created and on which basis? As far as I understand it, the amount of Tether tokens in circulation should match the amount of dollars injected into the system, right? In other words, the whole purpose of this operation is to create a parallel quasi-banking system which would allow people to buy cryptocurrencies with real dollars bypassing banks (most likely, American banks)
The accusation for the conspiracy theories is exactly that, Tethers are created out of thin air. I haven't seen anything that could be remotely conceived of evidence for it. The usual approach is just to point out that the people behind Bitfinex are also involved in Tether and assert therefore it must be a scam.
Everyone is free to make up their own mind who they believe:
https://wallet.tether.to/transparency
Quote
All tethers are backed 100% by actual assets in our reserve account
Our reserve account is regularly audited
Our reserve account is regularly audited
Or you can go with what anonymous accounts post on internet forums.
November 11, 2017, 08:58:50 AM
...
I lend some USD there. I just simply used fiat to buy BTC, deposited them on Bitfinex, sold them and lent the money. What's the point Tether?
I lend some USD there. I just simply used fiat to buy BTC, deposited them on Bitfinex, sold them and lent the money. What's the point Tether?
I actually do exactly the same to fund my Bitfinex account in order to lend USD. However, this whole Tether situation has created some
doubts that make me question, whether it is smart to use Bitfinex (even for lending purposes and not trading) any more. I´m personally
planning on reducing the amount of USD that I have currently lend out there
And what does it mean?
For us, simple traders at Bitfinex? What are your doubts more specifically? Do you mean that they create Tethers out of thin air? How are they supposed to be created and on which basis? As far as I understand it, the amount of Tether tokens in circulation should match the amount of dollars injected into the system, right? In other words, the whole purpose of this operation is to create a parallel quasi-banking system which would allow people to buy cryptocurrencies with real dollars bypassing banks (most likely, American banks)
November 11, 2017, 06:30:06 AM
...
I lend some USD there. I just simply used fiat to buy BTC, deposited them on Bitfinex, sold them and lent the money. What's the point Tether?
I lend some USD there. I just simply used fiat to buy BTC, deposited them on Bitfinex, sold them and lent the money. What's the point Tether?
I actually do exactly the same to fund my Bitfinex account in order to lend USD. However, this whole Tether situation has created some
doubts that make me question, whether it is smart to use Bitfinex (even for lending purposes and not trading) any more. I´m personally
planning on reducing the amount of USD that I have currently lend out there.
What exactly is your question regarding Tether? The involvement of Bitfinex in Tether?
Take a look at the following chart that analyses the corporate structure of Bitfinex, Tether and
the other corporate entities:
Meanwhile Tether has authorized another 30M. Tether issuance in the last 14 days has reached a staggering 150M.
http://omniexplorer.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=3MbYQMMmSkC3AgWkj9FMo5LsPTW1zBTwXL
Or are you more interested in the general purpose of Tether and why it has been created?
In my opinion the main reason is that it enables certain exchanges (e.g. Poloniex) to have fiat or
rather quasi-fiat trading pairs without having to rely on formal banking relationships, which obviously
are hard to attain for cryptocurrency related businesses.
November 11, 2017, 02:56:03 AM
I lend some USD there. I just simply used fiat to buy BTC, deposited them on Bitfinex, sold them and lent the money. What's the point Tether?
The only real differences are that you take the currency risk during the time it takes to purchase and transfer the BTC and the additional costs of commissions on buying and selling BTC twice. I have and would do it the same way as you, but I'd guess for someone looking to move millions of dollars the savings are attractive.
November 10, 2017, 04:48:16 PM
...If I had to guess, I would say someone with $10mm doesn’t use Gemini because you cannot realistically buy that much bitcoin on Gemini (doing so would effectively clear the order book). If you wanted to buy $2mm worth of bitcoin on Gemini you would lose about 2.5% via slippage based on Gemini’s order book. Buying $2mm on bitfinex would result in less than $50 in slippage (<1%) based on their current order book.
Interesting! I was under the impression that Gemini had really good liquidity, but apparently you are right and it isn´t really suited for really big
purchases of several millions $.
I continued digging into the Tether accusations and found this interesting plot:
I´m not really sure who created it, but if the displayed correlation between Tether and BTC price is correct the BTC rally of 2017 has
to be approached with a healthy scepticism.
one can see that you are a shill
Bitfinex is creating a ponzi. you must be blind not seeing that. What genuine company would not have a bank since 7 months ago or a listed(on website) bank account? A "market leader" without a bank account, fake volumes,Tether shit and so on... What kind or "leader" is that?
If this shit company is a leader then the majority of the BTC users are scammers, fraudsters, money launderers ...like them.
Also, there are many other questions you can put yourself about this fraudulent company.
I warned about BTC-e since years ago like I warn about Bitfinex "now"...
This bubble will burst soon and many will cry.
in their withdrawals/deposit section
November 10, 2017, 03:59:31 PM
...If I had to guess, I would say someone with $10mm doesn’t use Gemini because you cannot realistically buy that much bitcoin on Gemini (doing so would effectively clear the order book). If you wanted to buy $2mm worth of bitcoin on Gemini you would lose about 2.5% via slippage based on Gemini’s order book. Buying $2mm on bitfinex would result in less than $50 in slippage (<1%) based on their current order book.
Interesting! I was under the impression that Gemini had really good liquidity, but apparently you are right and it isn´t really suited for really big
purchases of several millions $.
I continued digging into the Tether accusations and found this interesting plot:
I´m not really sure who created it, but if the displayed correlation between Tether and BTC price is correct the BTC rally of 2017 has
to be approached with a healthy scepticism.
one can see that you are a shill
Bitfinex is creating a ponzi. you must be blind not seeing that. What genuine company would not have a bank since 7 months ago or a listed(on website) bank account? A "market leader" without a bank account, fake volumes,Tether shit and so on... What kind or "leader" is that?
If this shit company is a leader then the majority of the BTC users are scammers, fraudsters, money launderers ...like them.
Also, there are many other questions you can put yourself about this fraudulent company.
I warned about BTC-e since years ago like I warn about Bitfinex "now"...
This bubble will burst soon and many will cry.
November 10, 2017, 03:47:20 PM
...If I had to guess, I would say someone with $10mm doesn’t use Gemini because you cannot realistically buy that much bitcoin on Gemini (doing so would effectively clear the order book). If you wanted to buy $2mm worth of bitcoin on Gemini you would lose about 2.5% via slippage based on Gemini’s order book. Buying $2mm on bitfinex would result in less than $50 in slippage (<1%) based on their current order book.
Interesting! I was under the impression that Gemini had really good liquidity, but apparently you are right and it isn´t really suited for really big
purchases of several millions $.
I continued digging into the Tether accusations and found this interesting plot:
I´m not really sure who created it, but if the displayed correlation between Tether and BTC price is correct the BTC rally of 2017 has
to be approached with a healthy scepticism.
one can see that you are a shill
Bitfinex is creating a ponzi. you must be blind not seeing that. What genuine company would not have a bank since 7 months ago or a listed(on website) bank account? A "market leader" without a bank account, fake volumes,Tether shit and so on... What kind or "leader" is that?
If this shit company is a leader then the majority of the BTC users are scammers, fraudsters, money launderers ...like them.
Also, there are many other questions you can put yourself about this fraudulent company.
I warned about BTC-e since years ago like I warn about Bitfinex "now"...
This bubble will burst soon and many will cry.
November 10, 2017, 03:10:50 PM
...If I had to guess, I would say someone with $10mm doesn’t use Gemini because you cannot realistically buy that much bitcoin on Gemini (doing so would effectively clear the order book). If you wanted to buy $2mm worth of bitcoin on Gemini you would lose about 2.5% via slippage based on Gemini’s order book. Buying $2mm on bitfinex would result in less than $50 in slippage (<1%) based on their current order book.
Interesting! I was under the impression that Gemini had really good liquidity, but apparently you are right and it isn´t really suited for really big
purchases of several millions $.
I continued digging into the Tether accusations and found this interesting plot:
I´m not really sure who created it, but if the displayed correlation between Tether and BTC price is correct the BTC rally of 2017 has
to be approached with a healthy scepticism.
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