Bitfinex Planning To Conduct IEO In Order To Raise $1 Billion in USDT

By Prashant Jha

Bitfinex and controversy seem to go hand in hand, as many reports have claimed that the exchange is planning to raise $1 Billion in USDT through an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO). Although there is no confirmation from the exchange itself, several sources have reaffirmed the news.

One such source is famous crypto commentator Dovey Wan who recently tweeted that the controversial exchange might be gearing up for IEO, planning to raise $1 billion in USDT. Apart from Wan, another well-known personality of the crypto space Zhao Dong, the Bitcoin billionaire, and the trader also confirmed the same. Dong even claimed that large scale investors have already reserved $300 million of the total allocation set for Tether.

The news has become a center for controversy given the recent turn of events for both Bitfinex and Tether.

Recently, a New York Attorney General Letitia James said that she has managed to get a court order against the operators of the infamous Bitfinex crypto exchange iFinex Inc and also against the issuer of stable coin USDT. As per the Attorney General, the controversial crypto exchange has covered their loss amounting to $850 million, by giving themselves access to $900 million worth of Tether kept as reserves, out of which the firm has at least taken out $700 million worth of USDT.

Bitfinex has till now cleared itself from the controversy, claiming that the fillings by the Attorney general were written in bad faith. Bitfinex in its statement said,

“The New York Attorney General’s court filings were written in bad faith and are riddled with false assertions, including as to a purported $850 million “loss” at Crypto Capital. On the contrary, we have been informed that these Crypto Capital amounts are not lost but have been, in fact, seized and safeguarded,”

No matter what Bitfinex claims, but their denial of manipulating Tether reserves immediately followed by an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) planning to raise $1 billion in Tether at a time when they are being accused of covering losses worth $850 million sure looks fishy. Hopefully, in coming days we would witness a few court proceedings and maybe a lawsuit would follow that as well.