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The relationship between Bitfinxex and Tether (USDT) is a persistent discussion point in the crypto community. After all, it has been clear since the Panama Papers that Bitfinex and Tether are run by one and the same person. For many critics, however, the issue remains whether the "Stablecoin" tether is hedged 1 to 1 with reserves in US dollars in a Tether Limited bank account. In addition, over the past few months, there have been repeated voices and studies claiming that Tether's manipulation of the USDT "out of nowhere" is significantly manipulating Bitcoin's track record.
The rumor mill rekindled days ago when Bitfinex asked all users of the Exchange to buy or sell key cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum instead of Fiat against USDT. In addition, Fiat deposits were suspended for a week on the stock exchange. The background is that Bitfinex has lost its primary banking partner. Basically, this would not be unusual. However, Bitfinex has lost several times its primary banking partner in the past. In addition, there is also the never taken audit, which proves whether and where (at which bank) the company behind Tether the more than 2 billion US dollar reserves reserve.
After announcing that Noble Bank of Puerto Rico dropped its Bitfinex and Tether business, Bitcoin's markup on Bitfinex began to form. Noble Bank, whose founder Brock Pierce also founded Realcoin (later Tether) and later sold to Tether Limited, was a longtime Bitfinex partner. As Larry Cermak first reported, Bitfinex was initially able to secure a business account with HSBC, the seventh largest bank in the world. As Cermak later explained, the partnership did not materialize. This spurred rumors about the financial bankruptcy of Bitfinex. Although Bitfinex stated that it "expected the situation to normalize within a week". However, the rumors of a bankruptcy of Bitfinex and Tether are currently causing much concern to the market, as a crash could affect the market for a long time.