Bitfinex Group, who lost over $60 million in an attack earlier this month, has described the steps it is taking in order to try and recover from the loss. In a recent post the company explained that it is working to prevent the theft and secure the Bitfinex platform against further attack. In this regard it has been investigating the breach that led to the stolen funds and is working with international law enforcement to identify the perpetrators, trace the property and attempt to recover it.
To attempt to mitigate the damage to customers, the company explained it was taking action to repay accounts, stating: ‘The Losses have been allocated ratably among Bitfinex Group customers with Bitfinex custody accounts in an effort to as closely as possible mirror what the Bitfinex Group considers would happen if it were placed into liquidation and its property distributed to its creditors. A pro rata share of the Losses is reflected in your account balance. In an effort to address your portion of the Losses, the Bitfinex Group is committing to deploy its efforts to make you whole to the extent of the full amount of your pro rata portion of the Losses.’
Essentially, lost funds have been spread equally throughout the customer base with the view that they will be repaid as much as possible when Bitfinex manages to recovery the stolen property, raise funds through financings, or otherwise creates wealth. BFX tokens have been distributed proportionately to accounts and the company clearly hopes to recover from the setback; however, it has stated claims against the company may still be taken out by customers. Customers should see wallet reductions by approximately a third.
There are some restrictions on the trade of these BFX tokens, although other companies have begun to speculate on their value. Bitcoin mercantile exchange BitMEX has launched BFXQ16. BFXQ16 allows users who may not hold BFX Tokens or have an account with Bitfinex to trade and speculate on the recovery value of BFX Tokens.
BFXQ16 Contract Details:
•Payoff: 0.1 XBT per 1 USD
•The underlying is the Bitfinex BFX/USD exchange rate
•Margin, profit, and loss are all in Bitcoin
•Leverage of 2.5x
•Expires 26 Aug 12:00 UTC, settles on 30 minute TWAP of BFX/USD
