Bitcoin Daily: Bitfinex To List New Exchange After $1B IPO; Frank Timis Clashes With Argo Blockchain

Crypto exchange Bitfinex announced that it will list its new exchange token on its platform and it will be tradeable against bitcoin, the U.S. dollar, the tether stablecoin, ether and EOS.

“Upon publishing the UNUS SED LEO whitepaper last Friday, May 10th, Bitfinex conducted and completed a private sale of 100% of outstanding UNUS SED LEO tokens in exchange for one billion USDt worth of Bitcoin, USD, and USDt,” the company wrote in a blog post. “The overwhelming response and expedient execution of the token sale represents a new milestone for Bitfinex and the greater blockchain community. In addition to our excitement around bringing such an unprecedented and powerful token to the heart of our community, the Bitfinex team remains dedicated to continuing to grow and develop core infrastructure for our industry as a whole.”

CoinDesk reported that the exchange will buy back some of its circulating exchange tokens every month, based on revenue or the potential unlocking of its funds by a payment processor, Crypto Capital. However, last month the New York Attorney General’s office revealed that Bitfinex lost access to Crypto Capital funds, with the exchange admitting its funds were seized by authorities in the U.S., Poland and Portugal, and it was working to get access.

In other news, a battle broke out between crypto mining startup Argo Blockchain, and First Investments Holding (FIH), a Grand Cayman group reportedly controlled by Frank Timis that is also Argo’s biggest shareholder.

While Argo initially said it would not mine directly, it changed direction earlier this year because of bitcoin’s steep fall. As a result, Jonathan Bixby, Argo’s Canadian chairman, announced the company would cease its subscription-based consumer mining service, buy new hardware and begin mining, according to The Financial Times.

FIH, in turn, complained about the millions spent “on rapidly obsolescing [sic] crypto hardware,” and called for a vote to have Bixby and founder Mike Edwards deposed. While there was supposed to be a meeting last week, Argo instead announced it had signed a share swap and a joint venture with Canadian crypto miner Hive, which FIH called “highly inappropriate and vexatious” and a “last frantic attempt to change shareholders’ views.”

But by Thursday, Edwards had replaced Bixby as chairman and FIH adjourned the vote and became Argo’s first “enterprise-level customer,” paying a subscription of up to $1 million a month. As a result, Argo’s shares doubled.