New York judge extends Bitfinex-Tether case

Judge Joel Cohen has extended his preliminary injunction against Ifinex by 90 days, meaning the New York Attorney General’s office (NYAG) will have more time to continue its investigation into Bitfinex and Tether.

Ifinex is the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and the Tether stablecoin. Both Bitfinex and Tether have come under heavy fire from the NYAG for allegedly serving New York residents throughout 2018.

Bitfinex has denied the accusations, claiming the NYAG’s allegations are “misleading”.

New York Attorney General Letitia James previously sued the companies back in April after alleging that executives had covered up the loss of more than $850 million by replacing the money with reserves from Tether.

Bloomberg has reported that on July 29, New York State Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen extended an injunction he issued in April blocking the exchange from accessing, loaning, or making any claim on Tether’s cash reserves pending James’ investigation.

Hong Kong-based Ifinex implored Cohen to dismiss the suit, claiming New York has no jurisdiction in the matter since US residents are not allowed to trade on the Bitfinex exchange.

However, Cohen rejected Ifinex’s dismissal request, instead giving the NYAG more time to investigate the accusations.

Bitfinex has also fallen under scrutiny for its connection to CryptoCapital and the alleged misappropriation of funds – but the exchange claimed no New York customers suffered during the issue.

In response to this matter, the exchange said: “No NY customer has been identified by the OAG as having suffered any loss or harm from the CryptoCapital problems or the Bitfinex/Tether loan transaction.”

Coin Rivet will continue to provide updates on the ongoing saga as they become available.

Interested in reading more about the case between James and Ifinex? Discover more about Bitfinex and Tether hitting back at the NYAG’s allegations.