颇受虚拟货币行业关注的重大调查终结。事关市值第一稳定币的调查，一直是悬在加密货币行业上方的一把达摩克利斯之剑。
A major investigation that has received considerable attention from the virtual money industry has been concluded. The investigation into the first stable currency of the market has been a sword of Damocles hanging over the crypto-currency industry.
2月23日，纽约检察长办公室发布声明，对Bitfinex和Tether的调查以1850万美元罚金和解。Tether是USDT（泰达币）的发行方，Bitfinex则是关联的加密货币交易所，两家公司同属iFinex。双方在庭上的较量追溯至2019年4月。
On 23 February, the Office of the Attorney-General of New York issued a statement that the investigation against Bitfinex and Tether was settled with a fine of $18.5 million. Tether was the issuer of the USDT (Tedaco) and Bitfinex was the related encrypted currency exchange, both of which belonged to iFinex.
在初期的23页起诉书中，Bitfinex和Tether被指控欺诈加密货币投资者，操纵加密货币市场，挪用9亿美元的USDT准备金帮Bitfinex补足亏空。
In the initial 23-page indictment, Bitfinex and Tether were charged with fraudulently encrypting currency investors, manipulation of the encrypted currency market, and misappropriation of $900 million USDT reserve to cover the deficit of Bitfinex.
根据和解条款，收到罚款后，纽约检察长办公室将不再对调查的已知事项进行起诉。Bitfinex和Tether既不承认也不否认纽约检察长办公室的调查发现。双方达成和解的同时，纽约检察长办公室公布的调查结果，揭开了事件背后的内幕。
According to the settlement clause, once a fine has been received, the New York Attorney-General’s Office will not prosecute any of the known matters under investigation. Bitfinex and Tether neither acknowledge nor deny the findings of the New York Attorney-General’s Office.
两次自证储备资产均有蹊跷，纽约州检察长：掩盖了投资者面临的真正风险
Discrepancies in both self-certified reserve assets, New York State Attorney: covering up real risks to investors
Tether是市值最大的美元稳定币USDT（USD Tether，泰达币）的发行方，早期称“每一枚USDT都由储备中的传统货币1:1支持，所以1个USDT相当于1美元”。USDT被认为锚定美元，在加密货币行业充当着交易媒介。
Tether is the issuer of the largest dollar-stabilized currency (USD Tether, Tidal) with the early statement that “each USDT is supported by the traditional currency of the reserve of 1:1, so that one USDT is equivalent to $1.” The USDT is thought to anchor the dollar and act as a trade medium in the crypto-currency industry.
在法币和加密货币的兑换中，大部分交易所支持用法币兑换USDT。在币币交易中，USDT也几乎与所有加密货币有交易对，其成了加密货币市场的美元等价物，被称为稳定币。此后不断有其他稳定币上市，USDT市值始终居首，为大量用户使用。
In the exchange of French and encrypted currencies, most exchanges support the conversion of French to USDT. In currency transactions, the USDT is also traded with almost all of the encrypted currencies, and it becomes the dollar equivalent of the encrypted currency market, known as the stable currency.
纽约检方的调查戳穿了USDT关于一比一现金储备的言论。
In New York, the prosecution's investigation punctured USDT's statements about a cash reserve of one to one.
调查发现，约在2017年年中开始，Tether在世界任何地方都无法获得银行服务，在一段时间内，没有任何储备来支持流通中的USDT。当时，面对是否持有足够储备的质疑，Tether发布了一份自称“验证”其现金储备的报告，事实上，这些资金在当天早上才存入Tether账户。
The survey found that, beginning in mid-2017, Tether had no access to banking services anywhere in the world, and that there were no reserves to support USDT in circulation for some time. At that time, in the face of doubts about whether to hold sufficient reserves, Tether issued a report calling itself a “validation” of its cash reserves, which in fact was deposited into the Tether account only in the morning of the same day.
2018年11月1日，Tether公布了一份能验证现金储备的声明。当时，Tether已宣布和Deltec银行信托有限公司合作。信中称，USDT完全由现金支持，每一个对应一美元。但就在第二天，Tether从账户中转出数亿资金到Bitfinex的账户。
On 1 November 2018, Tether issued a statement validating the cash reserve. At the time, Tether had announced cooperation with Deltec Bank Trust Ltd. The letter stated that USDT was fully funded in cash, each of which corresponded to one dollar. But just the following day, Tether transferred hundreds of millions of funds from the account to Bitfinex's account.
在声明中，纽约总检察长詹姆斯（Letitia James）表示，声称虚拟货币USDT在任何时候都完全有美元支持是一个谎言，掩盖了投资者面临的真正风险。此外，Bitfinex和Tether的运营方iFinex对USDT的储备作了虚假陈述。詹姆斯提到，到目前为止，有340亿的USDT发行，并在市场上流通和交易。
In the statement, the Attorney-General of New York, Letitia James, stated that the claim that the virtual currency USDT had complete dollar support at all times was a lie that masked the real risks to investors. Moreover, Bitfinex and Tether’s operators, iFinex, made false statements about the USDT stock. James mentioned that, to date, $34 billion of the USDT had been issued and circulated and traded on the market.
据第三方平台统计，目前USDT在以太坊上的发行量为150亿。在Omni上，USDT的发行量为13亿。此外还在其他公链发行。官网披露有?349亿美元资产。?
According to the third-party platform, USDT is currently distributed to 15 billion people in Ether. On Omni, USDT is distributed to 1.3 billion people. In addition, it is distributed to other public chains.
在首次庭审前，Tether已将官网陈述的1比1美元储备改为有100%的储备支持，包括传统货币和现金等价物、有时可能还包括其他资产和应收账款等。Tether方面律师总顾问曾在2019年在宣誓书中表示，仅有74%的USDT有法币支持。近日，其律师总顾问在采访中称，有剩下26%是Bitfinex的贷款，并表示储备金中有比特币。
Prior to the first hearing, Tether changed the reserves of the Network to 100 per cent reserve support, including traditional currency and cash equivalents and, in some cases, other assets and receivables. In 2019, the General Counsel for the Tether side stated in his affidavit that only 74 per cent of the USDTs were supported by French currency. In a recent interview, his General Counsel stated that the remaining 26 per cent was Bitfinex’s loan and that there was bitcoin in the reserve.
目前，Tether持续在增发USDT，在接受纽约检方调查时也未曾收紧。有调查文章发现，不少比特币通过USDT购买，USDT的发行量和比特币价格正相关。值得注意的是，拟申请在美股上市的交易所Coinbase尚不支持USDT代币交易。纽约检方要求Tether披露稳定币背后储备的资产数据。?第三方审计机构公允性不明，USDT背后是否有足够的资产支持用户兑付，仍存在疑问。
There are investigative articles that find that a lot of bitcoins are being purchased through USDT, and that the distribution of USDTs is related to bitcoin prices. It is worth noting that Coinbase, the exchange to be listed on the United States stock market, has not yet supported USDT transactions.
Bitfinex曾有近10亿美金客户资产亏空，从Tether转账救急
Bitfinex had about a billion dollar client's asset deficit and transferred it from Tether.
在纽约检方的指控中，Bitfinex和Tether还被指“肆无忌惮地非法掩盖了巨大的经济损失”。
In the New York Prosecution's case, Bitfinex and Tether were also accused of being “unbridledly and illegally covering up huge economic losses”.
据调查发现，在2017年和2018年，Bitfinex依赖第三方支付机构来处理用户的存取款交易。2018年，Bitfinex与第三方支付机构Crypto Capital Corp.的合作出现问题，影响到Bitfinex的资产。尽管Bitfinex公开声称，不理解关于其将破产的言论。事实上，数月以来，Bitfinex高管一直在恳求这家第三方机构返还近10亿美元的资产。
The investigation found that in 2017 and 2018 Bitfinex relied on third-party payment agencies to handle user access transactions. In 2018, Bitfinex’s cooperation with third-party payment agencies Crypto Capital Corp. affected Bitfinex’s assets. Despite Bitfinex’s public claim that it did not understand the statements that it was about to go bankrupt.
公开资料显示，给加密货币提供支付服务的银行甚少，Crypto Capital等非银机构为交易所提供银行服务。由于Crypto Capital引起监管注意，受到监管调查，银行账户曾被传出冻结，或涉及交易所资产。Crypto Capital称，Bifinex的资金被扣押冻结。这或许是其与Bitfinex合作资金受损的来由。
According to Crypto Capital, the funds of Bifinex are being seized and frozen. This may be the cause of the damage to the funds of its cooperation with Bitfinex.
检方发现，Bitfinex曾发布声明谎称，被告知这些加密资金并未丢失，事实上已被扣押并得到保护。事实上，Bitfinex并不知道，Crypto Capital持有的所有客户资金的去向。检方认为，Bitfinex和Tether误导用户，发布虚假声明。
The prosecution found that Bitfinex had made a statement falsely stating that it had been told that the encrypted funds had not been lost and that they had in fact been seized and protected. In fact, Bitfinex did not know the whereabouts of all the customer funds held by Crypto Capital. The prosecution found that Bitfinex and Tether misled users and made false statements.
这个事件引发了后续一系列调查，纽约检方最初即指出，Tether从账户转给Bitfinex数十亿美金来弥补这一资金漏洞。Tether坚称仅是关联借款，近日，Tether表示相关借款已归还，并将不再向Bitfinex提供借款。
This incident triggered a series of subsequent investigations, in which the prosecution in New York initially stated that Tether had transferred billions of dollars from the account to Bitfinex to fill this financial gap. Tether maintained that it was only a related loan, and recently Tether indicated that the loan had been repaid and that it would no longer lend to Bitfinex.
此外，纽约州检方指出，iFinex和Tether曾谎称不允许纽约人进行交易活动，调查发现，这些公司多年来一直作为未经许可和不受监管的实体，在纽约州非法交易虚拟货币。
In addition, the New York State prosecution noted that iFinex and Tether had falsely stated that New Yorkers were not allowed to engage in trading activities and that the investigation had found that the companies had been illegally trading virtual currency in New York State as unauthorized and unregulated entities for many years.
詹姆斯称，这些公司由在金融体系最黑暗角落进行交易的无执照和无监管的个人和实体经营。本周，纽约检察长办公室将采取行动，结束Bitfinex和Tether在纽约的非法活动。并表示，无论是来自传统银行、虚拟货币交易平台、还是其他类型的金融机构，检方将勇敢地面对企业的贪婪。
James claims that these companies are operated by unlicensed and unregulated individuals and entities trading in the darkest corners of the financial system. This week, the New York Attorney’s Office will take action to end the illegal activities of Bitfinex and Tether in New York.
最后，Bitfinex和Tether被要求向纽约州支付1850万美元的罚款，另需提高透明度，每季度提交强制性报告，披露任何关联借款或应收款等信息，并按照分类披露USDT背后的支持资产数据。根据条约，纽约检察长办公室将不再对此进行起诉。和解后，Bitfinex和Tether将不承认有任何不当行为。
Finally, Bitfinex and Tether are required to pay a fine of $18.5 million to the State of New York. There is also a need to increase transparency by submitting mandatory reports on a quarterly basis, disclosing any information related to borrowing or receivables, and disclosing the supporting assets data on the back of the USDT in a disaggregated manner. Under the treaty, the Office of the Attorney-General in New York will not prosecute this. After the settlement, Bitfinex and Tether will not recognize any misconduct.
关于Tether方面是否作恶，业内有不同的声音。公开信息显示，Bitfinex注册地在英属维京群岛，成立于2012年，与加密货币交易所Bitcoiniaca的关系曾被讨论。Tether的前身则是Realcoin，在2014年将代币命名为泰达币。2015年，Bitfinex上线泰达币。当时，双方的关联未被曝光。此后发现，两家公司的CEO、CFO和董事长均相同。
Public information indicates that Bitfinex was registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2012 and its relationship with the encrypted currency exchange Bitcoiniaca was discussed. Tether's predecessor, Realcoin, named the token in 2014. In 2015, Bitfinex was on the line in Tedarco. At that time, the connection between the parties was not exposed. It was found that the CEO, the CFO and the chairman of both companies were the same.
23日，上述调查结果披露前后，比特币价格暴跌，24小时跌幅一度超过17%，当日晚些时候曾回升至49000美元左右。
Prior to and following the disclosure of the above-mentioned findings, Bitcoin prices fell sharply, with a 24-hour drop of more than 17 per cent and a recovery to about $49,000 later that day.
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