Is Bitfinex turning into Mt. Gox?

[bitjoin]

There cold storage still shows what BTC they have i'm guessing they have all the funds and the banks are being awkward. Keeping an eye on the situation though.

[BigJRepairs]

I've been trading a while. I didn't lose money at Mt. Gox, I think I was on Cryptsy at the time. I lost a little on the Bitfinex hack. Anyway, my bigger concern has become the exchanges are not just exchanging anymore. They've been making clear manipulative movements that I think will ripple out like Mt. Gox as loss of confidence if nothing else. Also, the iFinex vs. Wells Fargo lawsuit is possibly revealing the relationship between Coinbase, and Bitfinex. For the record I already hated Wells Fargo, but the first thing that stuck out was the jurisdiction section that mentions officers and offices in San Francisco, Coinbase HQ. They also share very close offices in the UK, where Bitfinex holds Tether, and Coinbase process CC tx. I think it's common knowledge among most BTC users the banks are tied together, but not the exchanges? It's possibly a stack of giant coincidence. There's a little Jerry Fletcher in my head screaming this is going to unfold all bad for the BTC/USD pair. That's my 2 Satoshi, I'm out for a while.

[Snorek]

There cold storage still shows what BTC they have i'm guessing they have all the funds and the banks are being awkward. Keeping an eye on the situation though.

Bitfinex is solvent. They are strong brand and keeping their business running is far more profitable than bankruptcy.
After all they recovered from that hacking incident. Recently they managed to pay off 100% of of BFX Tokens they issued as temporary solution.
Banks are to blame here, they are seeking ways to undermine trust in cryptocurrency IMO.

[squatz1]

Is it possible that banking cartel is punishing them together for suing Wells Fargo?

Wouldn't doubt it, and even if it was happening at the moment we wouldn't even know because everything would be behind closed doors when doling out such punishments.

Bitfinex should know not to go up such a huge bank with such a large amount of influential people in it and around it, really poor choice.

Still I think these issues with a bank is bound to happen with an exchange of their side and I think this is going to all end pretty soon when the bank sees how much in fees and such they're going to miss out on when they find another bank who's going to pick BFX up as a customer.

Since BTCe and OKcoin have started suffering the same issue, this might be a bit wider problem not restricted to Bitfinex only. Hope this gets resolved soon, BTC price started increasing again, we dont need this kind of panic.

Well, Banks don't want Bitcoin to thrive so this could be them attempting to limit it.

[ranlo]

There cold storage still shows what BTC they have i'm guessing they have all the funds and the banks are being awkward. Keeping an eye on the situation though.

Bitfinex is solvent. They are strong brand and keeping their business running is far more profitable than bankruptcy.
After all they recovered from that hacking incident. Recently they managed to pay off 100% of of BFX Tokens they issued as temporary solution.
Banks are to blame here, they are seeking ways to undermine trust in cryptocurrency IMO.

Solvency doesn't help with respect to fiat, though. They haven't said they hold enough USD/CAD/etc. to cover all debts, just cryptos. I'm wondering about the fiat side as well, mostly because the bank ditching them may have also resulted in a forfeiture of funds.

[ArdiPrabowo]

I think bitfinex is bitcoin price always exstrem high, same today is bitcoin price over 1300 dollar
someday bitfinex can same accident Mt.gox

[ranlo]

I think bitfinex is bitcoin price always exstrem high, same today is bitcoin price over 1300 dollar
someday bitfinex can same accident Mt.gox

It's going up because there's no way to withdraw USD, but you can withdraw BTC. So people with their USD stuck there are paying high costs to be able to withdraw their money (as BTC).

[digaran]

Why would you make such a fuss? they have head quarters and offices you can even know where their staff live, besides they are only unable to process fiat deposits and withdrawals not intentionally but by force because of banks the enemies of bitcoin. you can withdrawal any crypto.

Traders trying to exchange their already deposited fiat for bitcoin or other coins how exactly? I mean who is selling to them? because if you sell anything for fiat you are still unable to withdrawal that.

Just take out whatever coins you have there for time being until they solve their issues with banks, it's not like they're the only available exchanging service in the world, though it could be a tactic of sorts a strategy to sell coins at high prices.

[Graphics]

I'm keeping an eye on this one. There are some red flags, but I have at Bitfinex less than 0.2BTC so it's not that painful.

If you are feel insecure, you could always 'hedge' some coins at Will Bitfinex be the next MtGox @ 2017 betting. More or a less this is like a Get out of Jail almost free card.

[crazyivan]

It seems things re cooling down a bit. No next Mt.Gox. I assume one can withdraw BTC from Bitfinex?

[ranlo]

It seems things re cooling down a bit. No next Mt.Gox. I assume one can withdraw BTC from Bitfinex?

Cryptos were never affected -- just fiat. So yes, you can deposit/withdraw BTC just fine. As well as any other crypto. For fiat, looks like they are doing (planning, if they still have issues getting a bank) to do one-time withdrawals per person so you can pull all your fiat in one swoop.

[alyssa85]

It seems things re cooling down a bit. No next Mt.Gox. I assume one can withdraw BTC from Bitfinex?

Yes.

But their cold storage wallet used to have 121k btc but is down to 74k btc:

https://blockchain.info/address/3D2oetdNuZUqQHPJmcMDDHYoqkyNVsFk9r

[pinkflower]

There cold storage still shows what BTC they have i'm guessing they have all the funds and the banks are being awkward. Keeping an eye on the situation though.

Can you please post the known BTC addresses of Bitfinex? Lets observe whats going on with them and how much larger the BTC withdrawals are vs. deposits.

[Bonez0r]

According to the following article, this is down to Taiwanese Banking Reforms:

http://www.livebitcoinnews.com/taiwanese-banking-reforms-cause-issues-bitfinex-bitcoin-companies/

Most cryptocurrency companies dealing with funds from international clients have signed up for a Taiwanese bank account due to less strict AML and KYC procedures. At one point, this loophole seemed worthwhile, yet it is coming to bite these companies in the rear as of right now.

Since the United States recently stepped up their internal banking requirements for USD transfers, other banks dealing with USD transfers must follow suit. This also means the Taiwanese megabanks will have to go through some major changes. Until that happens, US banks are free to refuse transfers from banks not complying with the new guidelines. It appears that is the real reason why Wells Fargo bounces iFinex, Tether, Xapo, and BTC-E transfers coming from Taiwan, and does not send money to the country either.

Another article with more info: https://medium.com/@whalecalls/taiwan-aml-reforms-usd-crypto-drama-15417cbcdf7b

It's all because the US started imposing stricter AML requirements for USD transactions since the beginning of April. Taiwanese banks don't fully comply with the new rules, so now any BTC company that uses a Taiwanese bank has these problems. They have to either find a new bank or wait for their current bank to comply with the new, stricter rules.

Again, this isn't just Bitfinex, but also OKcoin, Xapo, BTC-E and others. Let's hope they find a solution soon.

[bitjoin]

Sounds like they need to move opperations out of taiwan. What i'm seeing today is the spread between them and stamp is coming down i think we have some good news coming soon.

[pinkflower]

According to the following article, this is down to Taiwanese Banking Reforms:

http://www.livebitcoinnews.com/taiwanese-banking-reforms-cause-issues-bitfinex-bitcoin-companies/

Most cryptocurrency companies dealing with funds from international clients have signed up for a Taiwanese bank account due to less strict AML and KYC procedures. At one point, this loophole seemed worthwhile, yet it is coming to bite these companies in the rear as of right now.

Since the United States recently stepped up their internal banking requirements for USD transfers, other banks dealing with USD transfers must follow suit. This also means the Taiwanese megabanks will have to go through some major changes. Until that happens, US banks are free to refuse transfers from banks not complying with the new guidelines. It appears that is the real reason why Wells Fargo bounces iFinex, Tether, Xapo, and BTC-E transfers coming from Taiwan, and does not send money to the country either.

Another article with more info: https://medium.com/@whalecalls/taiwan-aml-reforms-usd-crypto-drama-15417cbcdf7b

It's all because the US started imposing stricter AML requirements for USD transactions since the beginning of April. Taiwanese banks don't fully comply with the new rules, so now any BTC company that uses a Taiwanese bank has these problems. They have to either find a new bank or wait for their current bank to comply with the new, stricter rules.

Again, this isn't just Bitfinex, but also OKcoin, Xapo, BTC-E and others. Let's hope they find a solution soon.

Thats more like a blog and an opinion piece from somebody who either maybe wants to calm things down or he's trying to take th attention from the real issue. The real issue is if USD deposits and more importantly withdrawals are coming back or not. If its not, try to guess what would happen.

[BitHodler]

Sounds like they need to move opperations out of taiwan. What i'm seeing today is the spread between them and stamp is coming down i think we have some good news coming soon.

Spread coming down? It's still more or less $90 in difference. If there is good news incoming, and the price shows a major movement prior to the announcement, it may very well be insider trading.

Right now absolutely nothing indicates a change in the current situation. It's not easy to relocate your operations to a different country as each country has other laws that an exchange must work under.

I won't be surprised to see this situation last for a few more weeks, which will only give traders there more incentive to buy at whatever premium in order to get their funds out of that exchange. Result ~ $1400 incoming.

[pinkflower]

Everyone of us should also take notice of the volume. The price keeps going up but the volume is low in all the exchanges. That could be very dangerous if whales start to dump, there wont be that much support to catch the fall.

[bitjoin]

Sounds like they need to move opperations out of taiwan. What i'm seeing today is the spread between them and stamp is coming down i think we have some good news coming soon.

Spread coming down? It's still more or less $90 in difference. If there is good news incoming, and the price shows a major movement prior to the announcement, it may very well be insider trading.

Right now absolutely nothing indicates a change in the current situation. It's not easy to relocate your operations to a different country as each country has other laws that an exchange must work under.

I won't be surprised to see this situation last for a few more weeks, which will only give traders there more incentive to buy at whatever premium in order to get their funds out of that exchange. Result ~ $1400 incoming.

The premium was up to $120 at its peak. The chief strategy guy of bitfinex said yesterday they will be allowing the 1 time USD withdraws in a week or so which should bring premium down further.  Remember you can still deposit crypto but you cant get fiat in.  If they do the 1 time withdraws confidence will return and i expect some people will take the punt and deposit crypto to sell for a premium.

[BitHodler]

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The premium was up to $120 at its peak. The chief strategy guy of bitfinex said yesterday they will be allowing the 1 time USD withdraws in a week or so which should bring premium down further.  Remember you can still deposit crypto but you cant get fiat in.  If they do the 1 time withdraws confidence will return and i expect some people will take the punt and deposit crypto to sell for a premium.

I can't seem to find anything backing up what you are stating. Mind linking me to that statement?

If people are able to cash out again, whales will make sure the premium is gone in a matter of minutes, because if they don't do so, others will. It's basically the only option for them.

Other than that, it seems highly unlikely that Bitfinex will do so. It's clear that their bank(s) isn't (aren't) willing to do business with them anymore. Bitfinex will only have the opportunity to move their money to a different bank, and that's really it.

If they succeed in that, people will then be able to cash out and deposit fiat again. At least, that's how things normally go in the situation of a bank looking to cut all ties with whatever entity. Either way, I'll be waiting for your link(s).