4 ms·

I'm not even talking about KYC or US law or anything else. If you want that, there's Gemini and Coinbase. I say, fine - run it anonymously from Hong Kong for a

I'm not even talking about KYC or US law or anything else. If you want that, there's Gemini and Coinbase. I say, fine - run it anonymously from Hong Kong for all I care, just be transparent about assets and liabilities so everyone can see that you're solvent. If someone did this, wouldn't they quickly take the lion's share of volume away from the sketchy exchanges?

Klathmon 9y ago
If you don't follow US laws, you'd better not be taking any US currency, because you will get your shit shut down, and any US funds sent there most likely frozen at some point.
adrianmacneil 9y ago
Ultimately, because large traders care more about short term liquidity than long term solvency.
- panarky 9y ago
  Are liquidity and solvency mutually exclusive? They seem symbiotic to me (exclusively mutual?).
mitchellberry 9y ago
Its a space where millions are raised on nothing more than a whitepaper, probably a bit idealistic to expect rational actors. Bitfinex has been undergoing third party audit from Friedman for months now. No one cares though and still throw accusations around like confetti. Anyone who knows this fact and doesnt trust Friedman as a multinational auditor/accountant should say as such, rather than repeating blatant falsehoods. It quite easy to see what others have to gain from the negative coverage. Exchanges ddos each other all the time, its a shady industry, 15mins downtime for poloniex can double the weekly income of small exchanges. I'd hope hn readers see between the lines a bit more rather then jump on bandwagons. https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/202 https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/202 http://www.friedmanllp.com http://www.friedmanllp.com
- nooron 9y ago
  Have we experienced high-profile auditors, accountants and other "independent third parties" in the financial industry lying, prevaricating, or even acting in bad faith in recent memory? http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article24559855.html http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article2... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0209010315sep01-story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0209010315sep01-story...
  - mitchellberry 9y ago
    Undoubtedely, I'm not going into bat for the financial industry here, but essentially it comes down to the delegation of trust that is required with many transactions, financial or not
- twayamznacct 9y ago
  > Bitfinex has been undergoing third party audit from Friedman for months now. Is there proof of this? All I've seen (and I may be ignorant of the rest, so this is a legitimate request :) ) is that "note" from Friedman LLP that explicitly stated it was not an audit.
  - mitchellberry 9y ago
    When stating easily verifiable information about the cryptocurrency industry the proof/sources request as some form of rebuttal seems to be a very common respone, always find it intruiging that many either don't want to search themselves or perhaps simply want to use it as a way to discredit a comment. 3rd result from googling "friedman bitfinex": http://www.friedmanllp.com/insights/auditor-engagement http://www.friedmanllp.com/insights/auditor-engagement Now you said Friedman "explicitly stated it was not an audit", I searched and all i can find is blog posts and reddit threads. Any chance you could procure this explicit statement? Thanks. The url I provided says the compete opposite and itself links to the original source I offered.

Klathmon 9y ago

If you don't follow US laws, you'd better not be taking any US currency, because you will get your shit shut down, and any US funds sent there most likely frozen at some point.

adrianmacneil 9y ago

Ultimately, because large traders care more about short term liquidity than long term solvency.

panarky 9y ago
Are liquidity and solvency mutually exclusive? They seem symbiotic to me (exclusively mutual?).

mitchellberry 9y ago

Its a space where millions are raised on nothing more than a whitepaper, probably a bit idealistic to expect rational actors. Bitfinex has been undergoing third party audit from Friedman for months now. No one cares though and still throw accusations around like confetti. Anyone who knows this fact and doesnt trust Friedman as a multinational auditor/accountant should say as such, rather than repeating blatant falsehoods. It quite easy to see what others have to gain from the negative coverage. Exchanges ddos each other all the time, its a shady industry, 15mins downtime for poloniex can double the weekly income of small exchanges. I'd hope hn readers see between the lines a bit more rather then jump on bandwagons. https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/202 https://www.bitfinex.com/posts/202 http://www.friedmanllp.com http://www.friedmanllp.com

nooron 9y ago
Have we experienced high-profile auditors, accountants and other "independent third parties" in the financial industry lying, prevaricating, or even acting in bad faith in recent memory? http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article24559855.html http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/article2... http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0209010315sep01-story.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-0209010315sep01-story...
- mitchellberry 9y ago
  Undoubtedely, I'm not going into bat for the financial industry here, but essentially it comes down to the delegation of trust that is required with many transactions, financial or not
twayamznacct 9y ago
> Bitfinex has been undergoing third party audit from Friedman for months now. Is there proof of this? All I've seen (and I may be ignorant of the rest, so this is a legitimate request :) ) is that "note" from Friedman LLP that explicitly stated it was not an audit.
- mitchellberry 9y ago
  When stating easily verifiable information about the cryptocurrency industry the proof/sources request as some form of rebuttal seems to be a very common respone, always find it intruiging that many either don't want to search themselves or perhaps simply want to use it as a way to discredit a comment. 3rd result from googling "friedman bitfinex": http://www.friedmanllp.com/insights/auditor-engagement http://www.friedmanllp.com/insights/auditor-engagement Now you said Friedman "explicitly stated it was not an audit", I searched and all i can find is blog posts and reddit threads. Any chance you could procure this explicit statement? Thanks. The url I provided says the compete opposite and itself links to the original source I offered.