Bitfinex and Tether accused of $850 million cover-up by New York Attorney General

Welp, it's not like you weren't warned something shady was going on. 

The New York Attorney General's office today accused iFinex Inc., the company behind both the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and the stablecoin Tether, of a massive coverup to hide the loss of $850 million in customer funds. It seems, the attorney general alleges, that Tether is not in fact backed one-to-one by U.S. dollars (as the company claimed until March of this year) and that Bitfinex can't cover customer withdraws. 

SEE ALSO: A little-known token may be fueling Bitcoin's rise. Critics say it's a scam.

This, to put it lightly, is a big deal. As the Wall Street Journal notes, approximately 80 percent of all cryptocurrency trades are done in Tether. If the so-called stablecoin is shown to essentially be worthless, then markets are not going to react kindly.  Read more...

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from Mashable http://bit.ly/2IG7Ai9