Bitfinex no longer needs to turn over documents to NYAG—for now

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has been given a little breather in its fight against New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James. Bitfinex is being sued, along with Tether, by the AG over questionable operations and has already had to deal with several setbacks. However, a New York Supreme Court has apparently felt sorry for the companies and has decided to respond favorably to one of its requests, at least for now. The court decided to approve Bitfinex’s request to postpone the delivery of certain documents related to its interactions with Tether, but has left the door open to change its mind.

Bitfinex and Tether have been forced to turn over copious amounts of data related to their operations and felt that they were being overwhelmed with requests for more information. They sought some help from the courts and asked that it be given a time-out. The Supreme Court agreed, explaining in its ruling, “An appeal having been taken from an order of the Supreme Court, New York County, entered on or about August 19, 2019, And respondents-appellants having moved to stay enforcement of the aforesaid order pending hearing and determination of the appeal taken therefrom, Now, upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, It is ordered that the motion is granted…”

At the heart of the issue is a loan for $850 million that Tether gave Bitfinex. AG James has asserted that Tether has essentially minted currency to cover the loan and accused the two of operating in New York without a license. After the court issued its ruling this week, a spokesperson for James stated, “The injunction that prohibits the movement of money between Tether and Bitfinex is still in place. We look forward to making our case in court as we seek to have Judge Cohen’s decision upheld and continue our investigation.”

Bitfinex and Tether have already tried to have the case thrown out, arguing that New York has no jurisdiction since Bitfinex doesn’t operate there. However, AG James produced evidence that this was not the case and that Bitfinex was alive and well in the Empire State. A request for dismissal filed on behalf of Tether was denied in August by Justice Joel M. Cohen, leading to Bitfinex seeking an appeal of that decision.

Bitfinex then requested the stay in the further release of company information, pending the outcome of that appeal. In making its decision, the Supreme Court states that proper documentation to support the request for dismissal must be submitted by November 4, or Bitfinex will have to pick up where it left off in turning over data.