Note: An earlier version of this article contained a version of this diagram with a minor typo. Acknowledgements: I would not have been able to complete this as thoroughly as I did without building off existing work. It needs to be pointed out that years ago u/SpeedflyChris (archive) pointed out these same connections. I also … Continue reading The 2015 Bitstamp, 2015 Bitfinex, and 2017 Tether Hacks are Connected
PART ONE CAN BE FOUND HERE PART TWO CAN BE FOUND HERE PART FOUR CAN BE FOUND HERE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OThSfFGTMc Cas Piancey, my writing partner and friend, and I are doing several episodes on the history and controversy surrounding Bitfinex and Tether. This episode is focused on questions we have gotten about Bitfinex and Tether. You … Continue reading My Third Conversation with Cas Piancey on ‘Tether: A Stable Discussion’: Questions and Answers
Recently, Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain have increased in usage thanks to congestion on Ethereum. Also recently, several people have started posting politically censored material on Binance's chains. This opens up several ethical questions that I think are valuable for anyone involved in crypto to ruminate on. Censorship resistance is a valuable tool. It … Continue reading The Ethics of Censorship Resistance
Bitfinex and Tether have settled with the New York Attorney General. The settlement document can be found here. (My copy) Many seem to find the document exculpatory, but I find it damning. As I have discussed previously, Bitfinex and Tether are dishonest and we are now getting a better view into just how dishonest they … Continue reading Analysis of the Tether/Bitfinex NYAG Settlement
UPDATE: I MAKE THE CLAIM THAT BITFINEX LIED ABOUT OWNING TETHER, THIS IS TRUE BUT I WANTED TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CONTEXT HERE Recently I was asked to do a guest lecture on Bitfinex and Tether. You can find it here: https://whu.cloud.panopto.eu/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?tid=f0fca2e9-f79e-4f81-b659-acd30078104e YouTube version: https://youtu.be/jGl6XKv4k0E My uploaded version: You can find the slides here. You can … Continue reading Guest Lecture at WHU – An Introduction to Bitfinex and Tether
On November 1st 2018 Tether proudly proclaimed that they were once again banked, this time with Deltec Bank in the Bahamas (archive). This announcement included a letter (my copy) (archive) signed by someone associated with Deltec that stated that Tether had a 'portfolio cash value' of $1,831,322,828 on October 31st. This suggested to all that … Continue reading A Timeline of Deeply Conflicted Tether Transactions
Raphael Nicolle is the founder of Bitfinex. Before that he had an interesting path. By day a helpdesk technician, during his free time Raphael became active under the account 'unclescrooge' on BitcoinTalk. From this account he makes some interesting posts, including occasional climate change denialism, saying he would invest in illegal businesses, and at least … Continue reading Raphael Nicolle and the Founding of Bitfinex
You can find it here. I had a ton of fun recording this podcast, however, due to time constraints I was not able to get to all my notes on whether or not Tether acts in good faith. I would like to summarize a few of the things I was not able to get to … Continue reading My Appearance on The Blockchain Debate podcast with Larry Cermak and Patrick McKenzie
NOTE: THIS MAY BE UPDATED OR CHANGED AS I DEVELOP A BETTER PICTURE OF OWNERSHIP OF THESE COMPANIES, UPDATES WILL BE LABELED AS SUCH. Havelock Investments was an early platform in the cryptocurrency space that allowed for a variety of companies to fundraise. Havelock Investments was purchased by the Panama Fund, S.A. in 2013. The … Continue reading A List of Funds/Companies who Fundraised Through Havelock Investments
I RECENTLY RE-WROTE AND RE-WORKED THIS ARTICLE, YOU CAN FIND THE IMPROVED VERSION HERE. https://bennettftomlin.com/2021/08/08/tether-and-bitfinex-introduction/ https://anchor.fm/s/297d9b4/podcast/rss https://youtu.be/1bWegLXn7Mc Bitfinex is one of the historically largest Bitcoin exchanges and Tether is by far the largest stablecoin. Each potentially has significant influence over the industry on their own, and their interconnectedness makes this more of a concern. However, … Continue reading An Introduction to the Tether/Bitfinex Controversy