12 Mar Bitfinex: Celebrating Over a Decade of Supporting and Constructing on Bitcoin
With Bitcoin reaching new All-Time Highs this week, historical past could choose that this marked the turning level for the world’s first and largest digital asset, because it moved from a distinct segment product with a small group of fiercely loyal supporters in its early days, to essential funding for everybody’s portfolio.
For Bitfinex, as one of many earliest Bitcoin platforms, based simply three years after the primary Bitcoin transaction, the now world enthusiasm we’re seeing for Bitcoin represents a vindication of the imaginative and prescient we shared in these early days of Bitcoin’s promise and potential, that goes past simply the value.
Our long-held view is that Bitcoin represents a know-how that’s distinctive as a result of, attributable to its decentralised construction it’s just about indestructible, utterly immutable and borderless. The idea {that a} type of cash and an interconnected system can’t be managed is what makes Bitcoin so enticing to buyers who need to escape a monetary system that may be manipulated. Therefore, the day by day information being seen in its value as extra buyers flock to Bitcoin, now made a lot simpler within the type of regulated ETFs. However maybe equally vital is the flexibility of Bitcoin to be a retailer of worth for people who shouldn’t have entry to monetary providers – both as a result of they’re costly or unavailable – and may present a haven for financial savings or funding that can not be taken away.
We name this Monetary Freedom and it’s on the core of our identification as an organization to proceed spreading the phrase and proselytising concerning the significance of Bitcoin; innovating and constructing open, peer-to-peer methods which are out there and uncensorable; supporting the Lightning Community and different comparable applied sciences to additional the scalability and utility of Bitcoin; and investing within the Bitcoin group, together with builders and white hat hackers to make sure the power and the resilience of the Bitcoin community.
This identification is on the coronary heart of our imaginative and prescient as an organization to be the main world advocate of freedom by accelerating a transition to a extra open and truthful world.
As we glance ahead, we at the moment are weeks away from the fourth Bitcoin halving in April, a elementary underpinning of Bitcoin that ensures its shortage, and is a elementary financial recalibration that influences all the pieces from mining methods to world market dynamics. We invite you to affix us for a particular Bitfinex Talks session on March 15, 2024, at 3.15pm UTC. Throughout this occasion, Paolo Ardoino, Bitfinex Chief Know-how Officer, will present his view on what the value appreciation will do for Bitcoin and its adoption and its utility, in addition to how the halving will assist form a path to a brand new chapter within the quest for monetary liberation.
Eleven Years in Bitcoin Can Appear Like a Lifetime
On November sixth, 2023, Bitfinex celebrated its eleventh anniversary, marking over a decade of steady innovation and management in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and P2P know-how. Since our founding in 2012, we’ve been on the forefront of advancing digital currencies, contributing to each the technological underpinnings of the ecosystem and stimulating group growth. Leveraging the transformative capabilities of Bitcoin, Bitfinex goals to determine a parallel peer-to-peer monetary system that prioritises freedom and accessibility for people throughout the globe, whereas appearing as a substitute for legacy finance.
The title “Bitfinex” is a portmanteau of three pivotal ideas, Bitcoin, Finance, and Alternate, that encapsulates our platform’s main operate as a high-volume buying and selling trade for Bitcoin and different digital property, and emphasises our broader function within the ever-evolving panorama of economic providers.
As we have fun the Bitcoin value, we replicate on our journey to date and look ahead to the following 11 years.
A Stroll Down Reminiscence Lane: A Take a look at Some Essential Milestones in Our Journey
November 2012 – Our Founding
Bitfinex emerged as one of many pioneering platforms particularly engineered for cryptocurrency buying and selling, born November sixth, 2012. Based by Raphael Nicolle, an IT technician from France who had beforehand labored on a undertaking referred to as Bitcoinica, Bitfinex initially launched as a peer-to-peer (P2P) margin lending platform completely for Bitcoin. We rapidly diversified attributable to buyer demand, including help for a number of cryptocurrencies and increasing our suite of providers. We started providing an array of buying and selling choices together with high-volume spot buying and selling, margin buying and selling, peer-to-peer lending (margin funding), over-the-counter (OTC) markets, and derivatives buying and selling. From the outset, Bitfinex has positioned itself as an institutional-grade hub for digital asset buying and selling, designed to cater to a wide selection of buying and selling wants for customers globally.
Could 2013 – Litecoin is Added to the Platform
Within the early days of Bitcoin, we started to see the emergence of the very first era of altcoins. Bitfinex made a discerning selection by including Litecoin to our buying and selling platform, as one of many first non-Bitcoin digital property. Recognizing Litecoin’s enduring potential and stability in distinction to different risky altcoins of the time, Bitfinex supplied its clients a chance to commerce a cryptocurrency with confirmed endurance. This addition not solely broadened the portfolio choices for Bitfinex’s buyer base, but additionally underscored our dedication to facilitating commerce in property with long-term viability and credibility.
January 2015 – Tether is Added to the Platform, Paving the Means for Stablecoins
In January 2015, Bitfinex took a strategic step by including USD Tether (USDt) to our platform, recognizing the rising demand for stablecoins within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. This history-making transfer offered merchants with a much-needed secure haven throughout market volatility, permitting them to simply transition from risky property like Bitcoin to a secure foreign money pegged to the US greenback. It additionally allowed exchanges to settle trades denominated in USD at a time when banks weren’t providing monetary providers to the trade as an entire. The combination of Tether not solely underscored Bitfinex’s forward-thinking method but additionally served as a catalyst for the broader adoption of stablecoins as a brand new kind of asset class within the crypto buying and selling group. Tether was the primary stablecoin, which paved the best way for numerous others, launched within the ensuing years.
March 2016 – Ether is added to the Platform, and bringing with it ERC-20 Tokens
In March 2016, Bitfinex determined so as to add Ether, a transfer that had far-reaching implications for its buyer base and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Ether is the principle token of Ethereum, which provides modern capabilities for sensible contracts and decentralised purposes (DApps), presenting a brand-new frontier for blockchain know-how. By incorporating Ether into our various set of choices, Bitfinex not solely catered to rising buyer demand but additionally demonstrated our dedication to staying on the forefront of blockchain innovation.
The combination of Ether was significantly noteworthy as a result of it opened the doorways for the buying and selling and funding of numerous ERC-20 tokens. The ERC-20 commonplace has been the muse for a lot of tokens that went on to considerably affect the world of Decentralised Finance (DeFi). These tokens have change into pivotal in all the pieces from decentralised exchanges (DEXs) to lending platforms and stablecoins. By providing Ether, Bitfinex successfully gave its clients a gateway to this burgeoning world of potentialities, reinforcing its function as a frontrunner in digital asset buying and selling. The transfer additional solidified Bitfinex’s fame for embracing promising applied sciences and providing various, sturdy buying and selling alternatives to its world group.
August 2016 – The Notorious Bitfinex Hack: How we Survived One among Our Hardest Challenges
In August 2016, Bitfinex suffered a big cybersecurity breach that led to the theft of virtually 120,000 bitcoins, an occasion that might have simply spelt doom for a lot of digital asset buying and selling platforms. Whereas the crypto-community watched with bated breath, Bitfinex took speedy motion. In an unprecedented and modern manoeuvre, we issued BFX tokens to all affected clients at a ratio of 1 BFX token for each greenback stolen. We supplied clients a selection: they might redeem every BFX token for $1 per token or trade every BFX token, valued at $1 per token, for widespread shares of iFinex capital inventory. Remarkably, by April 3, 2017—simply eight months following the safety incident—Bitfinex efficiently redeemed these tokens, absolutely compensating clients and thereby restoring confidence within the trade.
This resilience stood in sharp distinction to the destiny of many up to date exchanges that have been obliterated by hacks, fraud, or mismanagement. Authorities ultimately captured the hackers answerable for the Bitfinex breach and recovered part of the stolen property, an vital chapter in our firm’s historical past. By not simply surviving, however thriving, after such a serious setback, Bitfinex showcased its dedication to buyer safety and operational integrity, setting itself aside as an organization with an moral administration group that really cares about its clients. It additionally served as a case research in efficient disaster administration throughout the risky panorama of cryptocurrency buying and selling.
October 2017 – Buying and selling the Fork Wars with the B2X “Chain Cut up” Token
Throughout the turbulent interval of Bitcoin’s block measurement debates and subsequent forks, Bitfinex adopted a impartial stance, guaranteeing that our platform wouldn’t change into a battleground for competing ideologies. Whereas not taking sides, Bitfinex did introduce the B2X token to provide our merchants the liberty to commerce the occasion of the Bitcoin SegWit2x fork.
By providing the “chain break up” tokens, we offered a mechanism for purchasers to hedge in opposition to the potential dangers and likewise speculate on the result of the fork. The B2X token allowed clients to separate their Bitcoin holdings into distinct property that might be traded individually, thus capturing the market’s evaluation of the relative worth of the forked chains. This method enabled Bitfinex to keep up our dedication to buyer selection and market integrity whereas steering away from the contentious politics that enveloped the Bitcoin group on the time.
Could 2019 – UNUS SED LEO (LEO) Token Launched
Bitfinex launched UNUS SED LEO, our personal utility token, in 2019. The token was met with appreciable curiosity and swiftly bought out throughout its preliminary personal sale, demonstrating each the boldness clients have in Bitfinex and the perceived utility of the token itself. UNUS SED LEO serves a number of features throughout the Bitfinex ecosystem, together with providing buying and selling price reductions and serving as a key element in a variety of purposes and providers. Along with this, the token acts as a pivotal component in quite a lot of Bitfinex purposes and providers, which vary from enhancing liquidity to collaborating in token gross sales hosted on the platform.
July 2019 – Algorithmic Buying and selling Platform Honey Framework Launches
The launch of Bitfinex’s Honey Framework was a big leap ahead in offering superior buying and selling instruments to the cryptocurrency group. This algorithmic buying and selling framework permits merchants to construct customised buying and selling methods with a excessive diploma of sophistication, thereby enabling them to maximise their buying and selling effectivity. The Honey Framework seamlessly integrates with Bitfinex’s current platform, offering a strong set of options for market evaluation, order execution, and danger administration. By providing such an intricate toolset, Bitfinex is actively levelling the taking part in discipline between retail and institutional merchants.
April 2020 – Bitfinex Delicate Staking Service Launches
Bitfinex entered the staking enviornment with its comfortable staking service, permitting Bitfinex clients to earn rewards by merely holding and staking sure kinds of cryptocurrencies straight by means of their Bitfinex accounts. This service brings one other layer of economic incentive for the platform’s clients, enhancing the utility and yield-generating capabilities of supported digital property.
By taking the complexity out of staking procedures, Bitfinex makes it accessible even for purchasers who will not be technologically savvy. The service aligns with Bitfinex’s broader mission to supply a complete and customer-friendly ecosystem for digital property, starting from buying and selling to facilitating peripheral use-cases. This provides one other side to the platform’s already sturdy suite of economic instruments and providers, reinforcing its standing as one of the crucial versatile platforms within the trade
April 2020 – Bitfinex Pulse Launches to Present a Social Media Community for Merchants
In an effort to foster group interplay and real-time info sharing amongst our customers, Bitfinex launched Bitfinex Pulse, an in-house social media community designed particularly for merchants. Pulse gives an area the place merchants can talk about market traits, share insights, and preserve an ear to the bottom for rising alternatives or dangers.
Bitfinex Pulse comes as a pure extension of our overarching technique to supply an all-in-one ecosystem for crypto fanatics and professionals alike. By including a social layer to our current array of buying and selling and monetary providers, Bitfinex not solely deepens our degree of buyer engagement however we additionally improve the standard of decision-making by means of collective intelligence. This modern characteristic helps solidify Bitfinex’s place as a complete and cutting-edge resolution within the digital asset market.
July 2020 – Lending Professional Revolutionises P2P Margin Lending through Automation
In July 2020, Bitfinex launched Lending Professional, a extremely automated, customizable, and superior lending software geared toward elevating the expertise of its clients within the margin funding market. Designed to cater to each particular person and institutional lenders, Lending Professional provides a set of options that automate lending primarily based on predefined standards, thereby optimising the returns on lent property. Lending Professional not solely streamlines the lending course of but additionally brings a degree of sophistication usually related to conventional monetary markets, additional bridging the hole between the crypto financial system and mainstream finance.
September 2020 – Bitfinex Borrow Gives Liquidity Options for HODLRs and Traders
Bitfinex launched “Bitfinex Borrow,” a peer-to-peer digital token mortgage portal designed to satisfy the rising demand for cryptocurrency-backed lending. This P2P digital token mortgage portal is greater than only a lending service; it’s an modern resolution tailor-made to the precise calls for of the trendy crypto investor.
Via permitting customers to leverage their current cryptocurrency holdings as collateral, Bitfinex Borrow makes it doable to safe loans in varied digital and fiat currencies with out liquidating invaluable property. One of many standout options of Bitfinex Borrow is its flexibility. Customers have the choice to select from totally different mortgage phrases and rates of interest, offering an added layer of customisation that many conventional monetary establishments fail to supply. This adaptability is particularly essential within the fast-paced, risky world of cryptocurrency markets, the place consumer wants can change quickly.
March 2021 – Bitfinex Pay Launches Offering Infrastructure for Retailers That Need to Settle for Crypto Funds
Bitfinex launched “Bitfinex Pay” as a service provider fee resolution designed to streamline and simplify cryptocurrency transactions for companies. This providing permits retailers to just accept digital property as fee for items and providers, additional bridging the hole between conventional finance and the Bitcoin and crypto financial system. By offering a seamless and safe fee gateway that helps varied cryptocurrencies, Bitfinex Pay not solely provides companies an opportunity to faucet right into a rising buyer base of crypto fanatics but additionally underscores Bitfinex’s broader goal to facilitate the mass adoption of digital property. With this transfer, Bitfinex extends its attain past trade providers to play a pivotal function in how transactions are literally carried out within the fashionable digital financial system.
September 2021 – Bitfinex Securities Launches to Disrupt the Securities Issuance Business
The launch of Bitfinex Securities signifies a groundbreaking second within the realm of economic providers, with the potential to disrupt the traditional securities trade basically. Working on the intersection of blockchain know-how and conventional finance, this new platform goals to democratise funding by offering a extra accessible, environment friendly, and clear avenue for buying and selling a variety of economic devices. In doing so, Bitfinex Securities challenges the longstanding norms and inefficiencies of legacy methods by leveraging the inherent advantages of decentralised applied sciences, resembling real-time settlement and decrease transaction prices.
This pioneering initiative displays Bitfinex’s dedication to innovation and its quest to repeatedly provide transformative monetary options to underserved entities and markets. By tapping into the huge, but underexploited, potential of tokenisation for securities buying and selling, Bitfinex Securities might function a catalyst for a seismic shift in how investments are made and managed, thereby redefining the contours of the worldwide monetary panorama.
November 2022 – Bitfinex Launches Freedom Manifesto at Adopting Bitcoin Convention in El Salvador
The revealing of the Bitfinex Freedom Manifesto on the Adopting Bitcoin 2022 convention in El Salvador marks a pivotal second within the crypto trade’s historical past. Launched in a rustic that has already made vital strides in adopting digital currencies, the manifesto serves as a philosophical and sensible information that outlines Bitfinex’s dedication to monetary freedom, decentralisation, and empowerment by means of know-how.
The doc gives a complete framework through a number of key pledges to help the Bitcoin ecosystem, prioritising training and a dedication to freedom, elucidating our imaginative and prescient for a extra open and equitable monetary ecosystem. Its launch in El Salvador, a nation that has boldly built-in Bitcoin into its financial system as authorized tender, amplifies the manifesto’s significance. By launching it at such a distinguished occasion, Bitfinex not solely spoke on to a like-minded viewers but additionally made a powerful assertion concerning the very important function of cryptocurrencies in shaping a future geared in direction of monetary inclusivity and freedom.
February 2023 – Bitfinex Securities Opens Workplace in Astana, Kazakhstan
The institution of a regional workplace for Bitfinex Securities in Astana, Kazakhstan serves as a strategic milestone for the corporate, opening the gateway to a quickly rising market hungry for monetary innovation. Kazakhstan has proven a forward-leaning stance in direction of blockchain and cryptocurrency applied sciences, making it a great hub for Bitfinex Securities to broaden its providers and affect.
The Astana workplace is not going to solely facilitate localised providers but additionally lay the groundwork for partnerships with native monetary establishments and regulatory our bodies. This strategic transfer underscores Bitfinex Securities’ imaginative and prescient of democratising finance on a world scale by making inroads into markets which are ripe for disruption and innovation. Furthermore, organising a regional workplace in Astana can act as a springboard for getting into different Central Asian and Eurasian markets, thereby considerably broadening our attain and affect.
April 2023 – Bitfinex Securities is Granted the First Digital Asset License in El Salvador
The issuance of the first-ever Digital Asset licence in El Salvador to Bitfinex Securities represents a historic milestone for each the corporate and the broader cryptocurrency trade. This licensure not solely provides legitimacy to Bitfinex Securities but additionally underlines El Salvador’s dedication to being a pioneer within the adoption of digital property. By receiving this licence, Bitfinex Securities beneficial properties a big aggressive edge, enabling it to function inside a regulated setting in a rustic that has overtly embraced digital foreign money. It additionally permits the corporate to supply an expanded vary of economic services tailor-made to this rising market. The licensure units the stage for additional developments within the adoption and regulatory recognition of digital property.
June 2023 – Bitfinex P2P Launches in Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela
The introduction of Bitfinex’s Peer-to-Peer (P2P) platform represents a big milestone in our ongoing mission to democratise finance, ship monetary inclusion, enhance monetary freedom and improve consumer expertise. Our P2P platform permits customers to straight commerce property with each other, bypassing conventional monetary intermediaries, thus selling monetary inclusivity and decreasing transaction prices. By leveraging the ideas of decentralisation and group interplay, Bitfinex P2P seeks to supply a extra equitable and clear buying and selling setting.
P2P buying and selling provides a lifeline in rising economies grappling with weak nationwide currencies and stringent capital controls. Conventional monetary methods in such international locations typically fail to supply a secure medium for saving or transacting, eroding the buying energy of residents and limiting their potential to interact in world commerce. P2P buying and selling platforms provide a manner out by facilitating direct asset exchanges between customers, giving entry to a extra secure and probably appreciating asset class, cryptocurrencies. In contrast to standard monetary methods, P2P platforms are largely resistant to native financial insurance policies, offering an alternate channel for capital flows each inside and past nationwide borders. In doing so, they empower people to regain management over their monetary futures, bypassing restrictive controls and risky nationwide currencies.
October 2023 – Bitfinex Securities Launches First Tokenised Bond Providing
Bitfinex Securities unveiled its inaugural tokenised bond providing, ALT2611, a big milestone that guarantees to revolutionise capital markets. Issued by Mikro Kapital, a well known participant within the microfinance sector, this 36-month bond carries a ten% coupon and is denominated in Tether (USDT). With a minimal funding quantity set at 125,000 USDT, ALT2611 is designed to democratise monetary entry, giving buyers the chance to amass dangers linked to the debt and fairness of microfinance organisations and small monetary establishments.
Bitfinex Securities goals to reshape the best way capital is raised by offering a deep, liquid marketplace for quite a lot of monetary devices, together with blockchain-based bonds, shares, and funding funds. The ALT2611 bond will start buying and selling on the value of 100 USDT and is anticipated to start distribution inside one week following the completion of the capital increase.
The bond has a three-year maturity interval, and its authorized framework is ruled by the legal guidelines of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Mikro Kapital intends to challenge a complete of 100,000 securitized tokens for ALT2611, aiming to boost 10 million USDT. Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino hailed the launch as “the start of a brand new period for capital raises by means of deep liquid markets and inventory/bond markets.”
March 2024 – Bitfinex Solidifies its Place because the Unique Bitcoin Alternate
Since its inception in November 2012, Bitfinex has steadfastly adhered to its founding thesis: a Bitcoin-first crypto trade devoted to offering monetary freedom to its clients. This dedication has not too long ago been vindicated by Bitcoin’s achievement of an all-time excessive value, underscoring the foresight and visionary management of Bitfinex, as a long-standing supporter of the Bitcoin revolution.
This milestone not solely cements Bitfinex’s fame as a pioneer, but additionally heralds its ongoing journey in direction of innovation and the enlargement of economic autonomy within the digital age. Bitfinex’s unwavering dedication to its core ideas and its clients’ monetary empowerment stands as a testomony to its path ahead, promising a future the place its foundational imaginative and prescient continues to form and drive the crypto ecosystem.
March 2024 – Bitcoin Reaches a New All Time Excessive
Bitcoin’s ascent to a brand new all-time excessive of $72,606 on Monday, March eleventh, 2024, has successfully silenced its sceptics, marking a pivotal second within the cryptocurrency’s journey in direction of mainstream acceptance. This exceptional achievement, exemplified by an unprecedented wave of institutional adoption facilitated by the launch of US Bitcoin ETFs, signifies a big shift in notion in direction of Bitcoin.
For years, critics doubted Bitcoin’s viability as a respectable asset class, however its rising integration into the mainstream monetary panorama has confirmed these doubts unfounded. The surge in Bitcoin’s worth not solely validates the foresight of early adopters but additionally underscores the transformative potential of digital currencies in reshaping the way forward for world finance.
Bitcoin’s upcoming halving will remodel the cryptocurrency ecosystem, making a dichotomy the place some individuals discover their positions weakened, whereas others emerge strengthened. These pivotal moments function a check, distinguishing the resilient from the weak, and reshaping the panorama in favour of those that adapt and thrive amidst change.
To study extra please be a part of us on Mar 15, 2024 at 3.15pm UTC for a Bitfinex Talks Particular
With Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex who will share his imaginative and prescient about Bitcoin rally, the upcoming halving and the way that is opening the best way to monetary freedom. Hyperlink right here
