06 Nov Bitfinex Proudly Celebrates 11 Years of Innovation and Management in Bitcoin
As we speak we’ll check out Bitfinex’s decade-plus journey shaping the way forward for a parallel Bitcoin-based monetary system, accessible to all. Bitfinex observes its eleventh yr in operation, a outstanding interval characterised by sustained innovation and authoritative affect inside the realms of Bitcoin, blockchain, and P2P applied sciences.
Eleven Years in Bitcoin Can Appear Like a Lifetime
On November sixth, 2023, Bitfinex is blissful to rejoice our eleventh anniversary, marking over a decade of steady innovation and management within the Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and P2P areas. 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 improvement. 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 performing as an alternative choice to legacy finance.
The identify “Bitfinex” is a portmanteau of three pivotal ideas, Bitcoin, Finance, and Change, that function the cornerstones of our id and mission. The identify not solely encapsulates our platform’s main perform as a high-volume buying and selling trade for Bitcoin and different digital belongings but in addition emphasises our broader function within the ever-evolving panorama of monetary companies.
By fusing these three ideas, Bitfinex alerts our dedication to be greater than only a cryptocurrency trade; we goal to be a complete parallel monetary platform that bridges conventional finance with the modern world of Bitcoin and blockchain expertise. The identify thus embodies our dedication to pushing the boundaries of what’s potential within the realm of digital finance, serving as a continuing reminder of our foundational ideas and impressive goals.
Over time, Bitfinex has remained dedicated to our imaginative and prescient of selling monetary freedom and inclusion via cutting-edge companies, merchandise, and academic initiatives, documented for posterity via our Freedom Manifesto. Our eleventh anniversary gives an essential alternative to mirror on our achievements and units the stage for continued progress and optimistic affect within the ever-evolving panorama of digital belongings and P2P applied sciences created to boost private and monetary freedom.
A Stroll Down Reminiscence Lane: A Have a look at Some Necessary 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 mission referred to as Bitcoinica, Bitfinex initially launched as a peer-to-peer (P2P) margin lending platform solely for Bitcoin. We rapidly diversified because of buyer demand, including assist for a number of cryptocurrencies and increasing our suite of companies. 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 alternative by including Litecoin to our buying and selling platform, as one of many first non-Bitcoin digital belongings. Recognizing Litecoin’s enduring potential and stability in distinction to different unstable altcoins of the time, Bitfinex supplied its prospects a possibility to commerce a cryptocurrency with confirmed endurance. This addition not solely broadened the portfolio choices for Bitfinex’s buyer base, but in addition underscored our dedication to facilitating commerce in belongings 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 unstable belongings 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 companies to the trade as a complete. The mixing of Tether not solely underscored Bitfinex’s forward-thinking method but in addition served as a catalyst for the broader adoption of stablecoins as a brand new sort of asset class within the crypto buying and selling group. Tether was the primary stablecoin, which paved the way in which for numerous others, launched within the ensuing years.
March 2016 – Ether is added to the Platform, Paving the Means for ERC-20 Tokens
In March 2016, Bitfinex took a big step by including Ether, a transfer that had far-reaching implications for its buyer base and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Ether is the primary token of Ethereum, which gives modern capabilities for good contracts and decentralised purposes (DApps), presenting a brand-new frontier for blockchain expertise. By incorporating Ether into our numerous set of choices, Bitfinex not solely catered to rising buyer demand but in addition demonstrated our dedication to staying on the forefront of blockchain innovation.
The mixing of Ether was notably 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 turn out to be pivotal in the whole lot from decentralised exchanges (DEXs) to lending platforms and stablecoins. By providing Ether, Bitfinex successfully gave its prospects a gateway to this burgeoning world of prospects, reinforcing its function as a pacesetter in digital asset buying and selling. The transfer additional solidified Bitfinex’s fame for embracing promising applied sciences and providing numerous, strong buying and selling alternatives to its international group.
August 2016 – The Notorious Bitfinex Hack: How we Survived Considered one of Our Hardest Challenges
In August 2016, Bitfinex suffered a big cybersecurity breach that led to the theft of just about 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 fast motion. In an unprecedented and modern manoeuvre, we issued BFX tokens to all affected prospects at a ratio of 1 BFX token for each greenback stolen. We supplied prospects a alternative: they may 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 prospects and thereby restoring confidence within the trade.
This resilience stood in sharp distinction to the destiny of many up to date exchanges that had been obliterated by hacks, fraud, or mismanagement. Authorities ultimately captured the hackers liable for the Bitfinex breach and recovered part of the stolen belongings, an essential chapter in our firm’s historical past. By not simply surviving, however thriving, after such a significant setback, Bitfinex showcased its dedication to buyer safety and operational integrity, setting itself aside as an organization with an moral administration crew that really cares about its prospects. It additionally served as a case research in efficient disaster administration inside the unstable panorama of cryptocurrency buying and selling.
October 2017 – Buying and selling the Fork Wars with the B2X “Chain Break up” Token
Throughout the turbulent interval of Bitcoin’s block dimension debates and subsequent forks, Bitfinex adopted a impartial stance, making certain that our platform wouldn’t turn out to be a battleground for competing ideologies. Whereas not taking sides, Bitfinex did introduce the B2X token to present 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 patrons to hedge towards the potential dangers and in addition speculate on the end result of the fork. The B2X token allowed prospects to separate their Bitcoin holdings into distinct belongings that could possibly 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 alternative 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 offered out throughout its preliminary personal sale, demonstrating each the boldness prospects have in Bitfinex and the perceived utility of the token itself. UNUS SED LEO serves a number of capabilities inside the Bitfinex ecosystem, together with providing buying and selling charge reductions and serving as a key element in a variety of purposes and companies. Along with this, the token acts as a pivotal factor in quite a lot of Bitfinex purposes and companies, which vary from enhancing liquidity to taking part 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 sturdy set of options for market evaluation, order execution, and threat administration. By providing such an intricate toolset, Bitfinex is actively levelling the taking part in subject between retail and institutional merchants.
April 2020 – Bitfinex Comfortable Staking Service Launches
Bitfinex entered the staking area with its smooth staking service, permitting Bitfinex prospects to earn rewards by merely holding and staking sure varieties of cryptocurrencies immediately via their Bitfinex accounts. This service brings one other layer of monetary incentive for the platform’s prospects, enhancing the utility and yield-generating capabilities of supported digital belongings.
By taking the complexity out of staking procedures, Bitfinex makes it accessible even for patrons who is probably not technologically savvy. The service aligns with Bitfinex’s broader mission to supply a complete and customer-friendly ecosystem for digital belongings, starting from buying and selling to facilitating peripheral use-cases. This provides one other aspect to the platform’s already strong suite of monetary instruments and companies, reinforcing its standing as one of the 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 offers an area the place merchants can talk about market developments, share insights, and maintain an ear to the bottom for rising alternatives or dangers.
Bitfinex Pulse comes as a pure extension of our overarching technique to offer an all-in-one ecosystem for crypto lovers and professionals alike. By including a social layer to our current array of buying and selling and monetary companies, Bitfinex not solely deepens our stage of buyer engagement however we additionally improve the standard of decision-making via collective intelligence. This modern function 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 by way of Automation
In July 2020, Bitfinex launched Lending Professional, a extremely automated, customizable, and superior lending instrument geared toward elevating the expertise of its prospects within the margin funding market. Designed to cater to each particular person and institutional lenders, Lending Professional gives a set of options that automate lending primarily based on predefined standards, thereby optimising the returns on lent belongings. Lending Professional not solely streamlines the lending course of but in addition brings a stage of sophistication sometimes related to conventional monetary markets, additional bridging the hole between the crypto economic 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 particular calls for of the trendy crypto investor.
Via permitting customers to leverage their current cryptocurrency holdings as collateral, Bitfinex Borrow makes it potential to safe loans in varied digital and fiat currencies with out liquidating precious belongings. One of many standout options of Bitfinex Borrow is its flexibility. Customers have the choice to select from completely different mortgage phrases and rates of interest, offering an added layer of customisation that many conventional monetary establishments fail to supply. This adaptability is very essential within the fast-paced, unstable world of cryptocurrency markets, the place consumer wants can change quickly.
March 2021 – Bitfinex Pay Launches Offering Infrastructure for Retailers That Wish 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 simply accept digital belongings as fee for items and companies, additional bridging the hole between conventional finance and the Bitcoin and crypto economic system. By offering a seamless and safe fee gateway that helps varied cryptocurrencies, Bitfinex Pay not solely gives companies an opportunity to faucet right into a rising buyer base of crypto lovers but in addition underscores Bitfinex’s broader goal to facilitate the mass adoption of digital belongings. With this transfer, Bitfinex extends its attain past trade companies to play a pivotal function in how transactions are literally performed within the fashionable digital economic system.
September 2021 – Bitfinex Securities Launches to Disrupt the Securities Issuance Trade
The launch of Bitfinex Securities signifies a groundbreaking second within the realm of monetary companies, with the potential to disrupt the standard securities trade essentially. Working on the intersection of blockchain expertise 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 monetary devices. In doing so, Bitfinex Securities challenges the longstanding norms and inefficiencies of legacy techniques by leveraging the inherent advantages of decentralised applied sciences, comparable to 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 may 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 important 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 via expertise.
The doc offers a complete framework by way of a number of key pledges to assist the Bitcoin ecosystem, prioritising schooling 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 economic system as authorized tender, amplifies the manifesto’s significance. By launching it at such a outstanding occasion, Bitfinex not solely spoke on to a like-minded viewers but in addition made a robust assertion concerning the important function of cryptocurrencies in shaping a future geared in the 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 the direction of blockchain and cryptocurrency applied sciences, making it a great hub for Bitfinex Securities to increase its companies and affect.
The Astana workplace is not going to solely facilitate localised companies but in addition 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 worldwide scale by making inroads into markets which might be ripe for disruption and innovation. Furthermore, establishing a regional workplace in Astana can act as a springboard for coming 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 in addition underlines El Salvador’s dedication to being a pioneer within the adoption of digital belongings. By receiving this licence, Bitfinex Securities features a big aggressive edge, enabling it to function inside a regulated atmosphere in a rustic that has overtly embraced digital foreign money. It additionally permits the corporate to supply an expanded vary of monetary services and products tailor-made to this rising market. The licensure units the stage for additional developments within the adoption and regulatory recognition of digital belongings.
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 immediately commerce belongings 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 offer a extra equitable and clear buying and selling atmosphere.
P2P buying and selling gives a lifeline in rising economies grappling with weak nationwide currencies and stringent capital controls. Conventional monetary techniques in such international locations typically fail to offer a secure medium for saving or transacting, eroding the buying energy of residents and limiting their skill to have interaction in international 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. Not like typical monetary techniques, P2P platforms are largely proof against native financial insurance policies, offering another 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 unstable 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 widely 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 way in which 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 predicted to begin distribution inside one week following the completion of the capital elevate.
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 concern a complete of 100,000 securitized tokens for ALT2611, aiming to lift 10 million USDT. Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino hailed the launch as “the start of a brand new period for capital raises via deep liquid markets and inventory/bond markets.”
