Bitfinex and the New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) legal sparring in relation to $850 million in missing funds[1] escalated with another round of court filings this past weekend.
The top exchange and New York’s principal legal advisor went back and forth with each other in two new letters submitted to the New York Supreme Court. Within the fresh filings, each a response to a previous filing by the other, the same ole song and dance.
Bitfinex continues to deny that it did anything wrong and opines that the NYAG has no legal basis to further probe its business practices or cut off its line of credit with Tether. The NYAG, on the other hand, thinks it’s made a foolproof argument for why those actions are necessary and is pushing its case forward — with some new evidence to give its actions added merit.
Meanwhile in the background, Bitfinex is planning an initial exchange offering (IEO) to recoup the $850 million in question.
“The Need to Maintain the Status Quo”
As with the first filing[2], the NYAG’s argument in its latest letter[3] is pitched as an attempt to “protect the public.” If Bitfinex is permitted to continue to siphon funds from Tether through the $900 million line of credit it established to substitute the $850 million tied up in questionable payment processor Crypto Capital, Bitfinex and Tether users are at risk, the NYAG argues.
“If Bitfinex is permitted to continue to draw on the Tether reserves (having already drawn at least $750 million dollars), with no assurance of adequate security or ability to repay, there is significant possibility those additional reserves will be unrecoverable.”
In response to the NYAG’s filing, Manhattan Justice Debra James ordered Bitfinex to produce documents related to the
