Crypto Exchange Bitfinex Diversifies, Adds Bitcoin to Balance Sheet

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Fredrik Vold

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Fredrik Vold

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October 22, 2023

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Bitfinex, one of the oldest crypto exchanges still operating today, reportedly holds Bitcoin (BTC) on its balance sheet.

The news that the veteran crypto exchange is investing profits into Bitcoin was reported on Monday by crypto news outlet The Block, which cited “a source with direct knowledge of the matter.”

The source revealed that Bitfinex for a long time has kept a part of its earnings from trading fees in Bitcoin as a “long-term commitment” to the original cryptocurrency.

The Bitcoin are still held as a reserve asset on Bitfinex’s balance sheet today, the source said.

No exact numbers or other details regarding Bitfinex’s Bitcoin investments were revealed.

The news followed a tweet by Bitfinex chief technology officer (CTO) Paolo Ardoino on Sunday where he hinted that the exchange has reinvested at least a part of its profits into Bitcoin.

“That’s what we do at Bitfinex,” Ardoino wrote, before cryptically mentioning the three Bitcoin layer-2 protocols Lightning Network (LN), RGB, and Liquid, followed by “…”.

Cryptocurrency exchanges, that hugely benefitted from #Bitcoin , should have a policy to reinvest part of the profits into #Bitcoin .
That's what we do at @bitfinex
LN, RGB, Liquid, …

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) September 3, 2023

Tether also holds BTC

Founded as early as in 2012, Bitfinex is closely affiliated with Tether, the stablecoin issuer behind USDT and a number of other fiat-backed stablecoins.

As reported earlier this year, Tether also added Bitcoin to its balance sheet, and now holds 54,000 BTC, worth around $1.58 billion.

The firm bought 1,529 BTC, worth $45.4 million, in Q2 this year, and has stated that it plans to allocate 15% of quarterly profits to bitcoin.

An outspoken Bitcoin proponent who frequently appears on Bitcoin conferences around the world, Paolo Ardoino serves as the CTO of both Bitfinex and Tether.

Both companies are led by the native Dutchman Jean-Louis van der Velde.