Bitfinex and Tether preparing for yet another market manipulation lawsuit

Bitfinex and Tether tag of war with regulators and the legal system doesn’t seem to tire. On Saturday the operators of Bitfinex and the leading stablecoin Tether (USDT) communicated to users that they are facing another lawsuit that is connecting them to manipulation of the market.

Both Bitfinex and Tether are terming the lawsuit “meritless and mercenary” and build on a “bogus study.” The exchange says that it is aware of an unpublished as well as non-peer reviewed paper that “Tether issuances are responsible for manipulating the cryptocurrency market.”

Bitfinex vehemently refutes the claims of the said study and the conclusions from the source. The company says that the conclusions relied on “flawed assumptions, incomplete and cherry-picked data, and faulty methodology.”

“We fully expect mercenary lawyers to use this deeply flawed paper to solicit plaintiffs for an opportunistic lawsuit, which may have been the true motive of the paper all along. In fact, we would not be surprised if just such a lawsuit will be filed imminently. In advance of any filing, we want to make clear our position that any claims based on these insinuations are meritless, reckless and a shameless attempt at a money grab. Accordingly, Bitfinex will vigorously defend itself in any such action.”

Although Bitfinex and Tether have termed the lawsuit a sham, a report by Bloomberg on October said that Bitcoin gains were heavily correlated with the issuance of USDT. The study found that Bitcoin price goes up as much as 70% on the days new USDT coins are minted.