A 24h Timeline of the most recent events involving Bitcoin, Bitfinex and Tether
What can happen in crypto within 24 hours?
Some people got caught off guard with the most recent news regarding Bitfinex and Tether. Curiously, a set of events have unfolded (and are yet to unfold) in the most recent 24h.
By themselves, these events might not look like much, but all of them have happened or will happen within a span of approximately 24h.
Even if one was to take these as a mere coincidence, the timing of the following events presents itself in a very interesting way.
The following times are in GMT.
25 April, 2:25pm
Multiple Bitcoins are moved from addresses related to the Bitfinex 2016 hack. At the time Bitfinex lost a total of 1061.126545 Bitcoins to the attackers. A total of ~550 Bitcoins were moved. You can check lists of addresses related to the hack here (by Chris Ellis) or on Bitfinex’s blog.
25 April, 5:15pm
Bitcoin flash crash at Kraken with price reaching~$4360. Apparently a limit order causing a “stop loss cascade”. In hindsight, after the news about Bitfinex and Tether came out, many have started wondering if this wasn’t someone trying to front run the market.
25 April, ~10:30pm
News of New York Attorney General suing Bitfinex and Tether start to hit social media. Apparently there’s $850 million missing with Bitfinex struggling to fill clients withdrawal requests. At the time there’s no cease of operations being sought. You can read more on the 23 page report.
26 April, ~3–4am
Bitfinex responds to New York Attorney General’s actions. Bitfinex claims the $850 million have not been lost but seized and safeguarded.
26 April, 4pm
CME Bitcoin Future Contracts expiration time.
Conclusion
- 2016 hack funds start moving
- Flash crash on Kraken
- NYAG suing Bitfinex and Tether news hit social media
- Bitcoin Futures expiration date
Some events by themselves might not mean much. Flash crashes happen from time to time. However the fact all of these events will happen within a span of ~24h gives us a different perspective. The flash crash doesn’t look that “normal” now, for example. Major news hitting just before futures expiration date. Bitfinex hacked coins moving on the same day. Timing just seems too good.
Coincidence or not, timing is definitely interesting. Just wanted to share the timeline of events with you guys. I’ll leave the speculation to each one of you.
Stay safe out there.
