iFinex proposes to return $150M share from Bitfinex hack victims: Report
Bitfinex's parent company iFinex In 2016, he proposed to buy $150 million of the company's shares from users who were compensated for the $71 million hacking of the Bitfinex crypto exchange, Bloomberg reported.
IFinex announced plans to buy back shares on September 22. The digital asset company offered shareholders $10 for the 15 million shares distributed after the 2016 Bitfinex hack.
Bitfinex lost about 36% of its total user balances, all in Bitcoin (BTC), and the crypto exchange did not have enough funds to compensate users for their losses at the time. Instead, Bitfinex offered recovery-rights-token (RRT) and equity in the form of iFinex shares to make users whole and fill the void caused by the hack. Users can choose between these two options.
iFinex shares were offered as part of the 2016 stock exchange in partnership with the BnkToTheFuture investment platform. The deal fell through when users got RRT BFX tokens, and iFinex eventually redeemed the company's shares through BnkToTheFuture. The $10 offering puts iFinex's valuation at $1.7 billion – 2018. That's far more than his 2016 estimate of $120 million.
The company has announced a buyback program that reflects its “positive performance” in recent years. Repurchasing investors' shares can deter investors to some extent from illegal investment.
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A handful of iFinex directors and affiliates will be eligible to participate in the buyback program. According to the agreement, there is no minimum number of shares required to continue the buyback. The parent company said it was prepared to buy as many shares as were offered until the maximum amount was reached. Shareholders have until October 24 to decide whether or not to sell their shares to iFinex.
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