Cryptocurrency trading in the United States of America, especially New York has been comparatively tougher than it is in other countries as well as states. Several crypto platforms have been rolling out trading platforms exclusively for the citizens of the US. However, the state seems to be stringent particularly with platforms that have had a bad past. Bitfinex as well as the stablecoin, Tether seem to be reaping the mistakes of their past.
Bitfinex’s parent company iFinex’s tiff with the New York State has been going on for about two years now. Earlier this week, the case sought a conclusion through a settlement, which coerced the platform to get out of the American state.
New York State Attorney General Calls Out Bitfinex And Tether
On Tuesday, the New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed that the iFinex case had finally come to an end. Both Bitfinex and Tether reportedly agreed to pay a fine of $18.5 million. With this, both these platforms were required to stop any trading activity in the state.
The Attorney General of the state further said in her statement that both the parties had “recklessly and unlawfully” concealed major damages to prolong their scheme.
The statement read,
“Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie. These companies obscured the true risk investors faced and were operated by unlicensed and unregulated individuals and entities dealing in the darkest corners of the financial system.”
Just when the crypto industry is moving past its nascent stage in terms of adoption, Bitfinex and Tether would be losing a major region.
Attorney James even went on to tweet about the latest event and stressed the fact that those who engage in activities surrounding crypto would be subject to laws of the state. The tweet read,
Furthermore, New York Attorney General James suggested that this case and its legal repercussions could be used as a message against “corporate greed”.