February 25, 2026

Capitalizations Index – B ∞/21M

Bitfinex, Tether Claim a Legal “Victory” against the NYAG

Bitfinex, tether claim a legal “victory” against the nyag

Bitfinex, Tether Claim a Legal “Victory” against the NYAG

Bitfinex, tether claim a legal “victory” against the nyag

The cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex on May 23, 2019, had a sigh of relief amidst the ongoing Tether (USDT) controversy as it won a partial block on demands for information from the New York Attorney General (NYAG) Office, Bloomberg reports.

A Temporary Respite

Sources state that New York Supreme Court Judge, Joel M. Cohen, allowed a stay of document demands in favor of Bitfinex. Notably, this move vastly limits the scope of the documents that Bitfinex and Tether must produce at the behest of the NYAG.

Justice Cohen also set a hearing date of July 29, 2019, for the two parties to appear for a hearing that would consider limiting all requests for information from Bitfinex. He added that in the meanwhile the bench will also ponder over Bitfinex’s request to dismiss the legal suit altogether.

Unsurprisingly, Bitfinex lauded the New York Supreme Court’s decision dubbing it a “victory” in its ongoing battle against the NYAG. The exchange claimed that the court’s decision further cemented its assertion that the NYAG’s legal offensive was void of legal reasoning.

The exchange wrote in a blog post:

This order is another victory in the ongoing defense of our businesses against the New York Attorney General’s overreach, and it comes on the heels of Justice Cohen’s ruling last week granting our motion to significantly narrow the injunction against our businesses obtained by the Attorney General.

Adding:

We look forward to continuing to challenge the New York Attorney General’s unmeritorious claims, and we will continue to vigorously protect our customers and assert our rights against those making false and unsupported claims against us.

The Story Until Now

Bitfinex recently found itself in the midst of a controversy when the NYAG Office accused it of colluding with its closely held affiliate firm Tether to inappropriately cover a business loss of more than $850 million. On April 26, 2019, NYAG representative Letita James said that she had lanced a court order against iFinex Ltd., the parent concern of the two accused companies.

In response, iFinex Ltd. stated that the regulatory body had no jurisdiction in the matter as Bitfinex’s registered office was in the British Virgin Islands. Further, the Hong Kong-based firm said that as U.S. residents were not allowed to trade on the exchange, the NYAG office had no legal ground to sue it.

Most recently, Bitfinex was successful in raising $1 billion through its initial exchange offering (IEO) through private placements from institutional investors. However, skeptics worry about the timing of such a development as it comes at a time when the exchange is said to be battling a serious liquidity crisis.

Like BTCMANAGER? Send us a tip!
Our bitcoin Address: 3AbQrAyRsdM5NX5BQh8qWYePEpGjCYLCy4

Published at Thu, 23 May 2019 22:00:12 +0000

Previous Article

Eric Swalwell’s Campaign Ad Is So Cringeworthy He Might Be a Genius

Next Article

Eric Swalwell’s Campaign Ad Is So Cringeworthy He Might Be a Genius

You might be interested in …

Re: [ann] [ico] taas: Токен как сервис | Собрано 978 124$

Re: [ANN] [ICO] TaaS: Токен как сервис | Собрано 978 124$

Re: [ANN] [ICO] TaaS: Токен как сервис | Собрано 978 124$ 1: Подписка на Email рассылку новостей: Подпишитесь на рассылку на нашем веб-сайте, добавив свой адрес электронной почты, вы будете получатьважные объявления, уведомления о запуске […]

Abra Closes $16M in Funding and Looks to Venture Into Consumer Product Space

Abra Foxconn

Abra, a mobile payment and digital currency platform that relies on bitcoin, closed $16 million in series B funding, led by Foxconn, the electronics supplier for Apple and other tech giants.  

Bill Barhydt, founder and CEO of Abra, made the announcement on October 23, 2017, at Money20/20 in Las Vegas, where he also outlined his vision for how consumer product companies will use bitcoin in the future.

Other investors in the round include Silver Capital and IGNIA, as well as previous investors Arbor Ventures, American Express Ventures, Jungle Ventures, Lerer Hippeau and RRE Ventures. Total funding to date for the company now stands at nearly $35 million.

“We believe that Abra represents the future of digital payments and banking,” Jack Lee, founding managing partner at HCM, the investment arm of Foxconn, said in a statement, adding that Abra could potentially usher in a new era of financial inclusion to billions of people.

In speaking with bitcoin Magazine, Barhydt explained that Abra plans to use the funds to expand globally and invest in future product development. “We have a lot of project announcements we will be making on a rolling basis,” he said.

Three-Part Vision

Though Barhydt did not offer exact details on what Abra’s new products will be, he did drop several hints in his three-part vision for how consumer products will implement bitcoin in the future.

The first part, he explained, involves cross-border and consumer payments, which he said has been Abra’s focus for a couple of years now.

The second part involves using bitcoin as an investment vehicle, in which smart contracts built on top of bitcoin’s ledger would enable more complicated if-then types of financial transactions — payments that go through only if specific conditions are met.

Abra already relies on smart contracts to hold fiat currency and manage bitcoin price fluctuations, Barhydt explained.

He went on to describe the third part of his vision: “A new model of consumer asset finance,” which he said is where consumer product companies like Foxconn enter into the picture.

It was an idea that he conceived while recently traveling to Africa. There, he saw how a company was leasing solar panels to people who were making regular micro-payments via M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service.

“They give solar kits to people who use them only if they make a weekly lease payment from M-Pesa wallet,” he explained. If a borrower does not make the payment, a SIM card in the phone communicates with the battery in the solar panel, shutting it off.

His idea was to extend the concept to other consumer appliances, like refrigerators, flat-panel TVs and washing machines, that people in developing countries struggle to afford.

“Using this model of embedding this cellular technology combined with a bitcoin-based payment system like Abra, you now have a new model where people can do instant on-lease payments,” he said, calling it a “new trillion-dollar business” that can only be done on scale using something like bitcoin.

Continuing to remain tight-lipped about future product launches, Barhydt said, “Our goal is to be the best digital currency wallet in the world for the average consumer, starting with real cash and bitcoin, and we’ll see how it evolves from there.”


The post Abra Closes $16M in Funding and Looks to Venture Into Consumer Product Space appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.