Ethfinex, Bitfinex’s Ethereum-centric sister exchange, is cutting its ties with its parent company and relaunching itself as DeversiFi.
Despite the new name, the exchange will still operate as a decentralized peer-to-peer exchange, meaning traders can execute trades directly from their private wallets.
The chief executive of the Ethfinex-turned-DeversiFi, Will Harbone, confirmed to The Block that the move was a part of a “management buyout.” The deal was finalized by the eight team members of the rebranded exchange, who were the employees of Ethfinex and Bitfinex.
“This is more than a rebrand; this is about needing more space to grow,” Harbone told the publication. “I wouldn’t call it a coup d’é·tat. We’ve done this with Bitfinex’s blessing.”
Parted ways for good?
Launched in mid-2018, Ethfinex was created as an alternative to Bitfinex to offer dozens of ERC-20 tokens. It recently launched “trustless” over-the-counter (OTC) services to execute large orders involving ERC-20 coins. However, the exchange had a small user base with only 10,000 clients, most of whom were concentrated in Europe.
DeversiFi will be registered as a new company in the British Virgin Islands and will absorb Etfhinex’s existing cash assets earned in revenue.
The company will also no longer oversee activities of iFinex’s Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) ) platform Tokenix.
The move came at a time when Bitfinex is entangled with the ongoing investigation on it by the New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) Office for a letter-of-credit obtained by the company from Stablecoin issuer Tether. The NYAG also filed evidence against the exchange, showcasing that it illegally served clients in the state of New York without obtaining the mandatory BitLicense.
Though Ethfinex split from Bitfinex in a troubled time for the later, the rebranded exchange will face challenges in a highly competitive market without the ties with a big name. The exchange is aiming to generate a daily trading volume of “5-10 million.”
