I'll save you guys the hassle and give you a tl;dr first.
You can scroll through my dealings with Bitfinex. Every post is on chronological order. If anyone is experiencing similar issues regarding the negligence of Bitfinex in the handling of the BCH hard fork, give me a direct message. I can help you to the details of my lawyer and we can even coordinate our efforts or just share our findings. I know some trolls here are p*** by Bitfinex to shut us up or make readers doubt what's going on here. Don't get distracted by them. They will come at me trying to discredit my story. Crypto exchanges think they use us their clients as cash cows, but when they screw up, they don't even think twice about screwing you over. This is my story:
- Bitfinex stated in a public announcement that all trading on BCH pairs would be stopped at 16:40 PM UTC on November 15th;
- I started the morning of November 15th with about ~16k in equity on my margin account. I had been scalping throughout the morning/afternoon and had a position open just before the hard fork took place;
- Bitfinex screwed up by allowing trading to continue after the hard fork time, causing the price to drop from $ ~430 to $ 250 as depicted in the chart below (Exhibit 0) in a few minutes time;
- During the flash crash that followed (mind you, this happens after the hard fork at 16:40), I tried to close my position manually trying to market close the whole position of 100 BCH - their engine didn't allow the whole position to go through and only 40 BCH went through in increments of 10. As you can imagine they closed at prices wayyyy below the original base price, which was $ ~435 at 16:40;
- But what happens next is where it gets interesting. After price hits $ 250, Bitfinex decided it was time to close my position and only reimburse 60% of my position in spot BSV / BAB (60 instead of the 100);
- My account balance started showing weird numbers not making any sense (4.38 BAB and 4.38 BSV, ?!??). After a while my ending balance becomes: $ -13,875 | 60 BAB | 60 BSV. Which at current prices equals $ -13,875 + ( 60 x 129.19 ) + ( 60 x 75,34 ) = $ -1,603;
- Numerous mistakes followed, the amount of negligence here is shocking, a response time unworthy of a legitimate exchange, among others, caused my account to go from a net account balance of $16k (my equity) to currently -1,6k (yes really!); and here comes the weird stuff;
- BFX accepted their negligence and came up with the following proposal to reimburse me: $ -21,785 | 100 BAB | 100 BSV;
- At current prices, this absurd proposal would amount to: $ -21,785 + ( 100 x 129.19 ) + ( 100 x 75,34 ) = $ -1,332. Meaning that I would still owe them 1,3k, for destroying my account balance; and
- Mind blowing stuff.
1. Bitfinex announcement regarding the Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork
- Snapshot Event at 16:40 PM UTC on November 15, all BCH balances to be frozen and BCH trading to be halted.
2. Day 1: E-mail received from Bitfinex, "Position nearing liquidation", at 16:42 pm (UTC) on November 15th
- Remember, trading should have stopped at 16:40. It did not;
- Date and time of e-mail received from BFX (see 1); and
- E-mail content announcing that my position is nearing liquidation at 16:42 PM (see 2).
3. Day 1: Order history imported from BFX Ledger
- I started trading on 15 November with a short position of 70 BCH, built up between 11:14 and 11:30 AM;
- Closed position in profit between 12:07 and 12:35 PM;
- Second position of in total 80 BCH short created between 13:13 and 13:18 PM;
- Closed position in profit between 13:42 and 14:43; and
- The third position is where everything wrong. Went long with 100 BCH, created between 13:47 and 13:58;
- Market executed 4 x 10 BCH between 16:41:57 and 16:43:29 at average prices way below the settlement price (keep in mind that settlement should have happened at hard fork time: 16:40 and ~$ 435); and
- I tried to market close the whole position but the system wouldn't allow it.
4. Day 1: Conversation started with BFX Telegram Admin shortly after on 15 November at 18:16 PM (UTC +1)
- Conversation started after requesting to direct message an admin in the BFX Public Channel (from which I got banned on 19 November after ventilating my frustration about its incredible slow support service and how they could let trading continue; and
- The conversation continues for a few days during which I give him all the information there is about what has occurred. Initially he tells me I received the correct amount, namely 60 BCH, not wanting to admit BFX screwed up badly here (you'll see that they admit to this eventually).
5. Day 1: Support ticket sent to BFX on Thursday 15 November at 17:26 PM
- Ticket opened after TG Admin' suggestion; and
- Requesting guidance regarding the BCH flash crash.
6. Day 2: Second e-mail to BFX Support Service at 17:23 PM on 16 November
- I'm asking what to do with my negative account balance, which at the time was changing constantly with weird numbers that didn't make any sense;
- Asking whether to settle the spot 60 BCH that was credited to me by selling them immediately or not do anything to prevent making things worse than they are; and
- Notified Bitfinex Support of my conversation with TG admin, and requested to have the conversation added to the ticket.
7. Day 3: Initial reply by BFX to ticket received at 03:10 AM on 17 November
- Initial reply by support indicates that 0 research was done regarding the situation. He just copy pasted my ledger, a copy which I had already sent their TG admin explaining why it was wrong. Have a look at the time of the ledger entries and it tells you enough ;);
- Position was claimed at 17:03:54 (the snapshot should have been taken at 16:30) as stated by BFX itself; and
- Wrong amount credited to my account, 60 instead of 100.
8. Day 3: Reply to previous e-mail on 17 November at 12:44 PM
- My reply shows screenshots from my BFX ledger stating the following:
- i ) trading continued wrongfully and snapshot time should have been 16:40;
- ii) market executing 4 times 10 BCH between 16:41:57 and 16:43:29; and
- iii ) trading after 16:40 PM should NOT have been possible, which this guy has trouble understanding.
9. Day 6: An apologetic reply by BFX (one of many): issue forwarded to relevant team, promises to 'get back soon' on 20 November at 03:33 AM
- Reminder sent between day 3 and day 6.
10. Day 7: Reminder sent, requesting an indication for a reply, stating full reimbursement on Wednesday 21 November at 14:32 PM
11. Day 9: E-mail by BFX: settling negative balances following BCH hard fork on Friday 23 November at 08:45 AM & reply
12. Day 13: Reminder sent to previous e-mail received on Day 9, no information, just 'inundated with support requests regarding the BCH fork' on Tuesday 27 November at 22:00
- What a shocker, I'm not the only experiencing this issue.
13. Day 20: Another apologetic e-mail, investigation continuing, promises to have a response shortly, received on Tuesday 4 December at 10:13 AM & Day 21: Answer to previous e-mail and requesting to have account reinstated, sent on Wednesday 5 December at 10:53 AM
14. Day 23: No info besides 'explanation taking slightly longer than anticipated on Friday 7 December at 11:38 AM & Day 28: Another reminder sent on Wednesday 12 December at 10:24
- Of course they aren't stalling for time...
15. Day 29: Proposal in progress, "continue to trade", will not affect decision and proposal by further actions on the platform on Thursday 13 December at 10:52 AM
- Account balance is still negative, their suggestion to continue trading would mean that I would have to add back 4k from my own money to get to a net account balance of 0 (see Exhibit 17);
- Only any additions after that would allow me to be able to trade again (????!@#!$); and
- Meanwhile my 'Net trading balance' sits at -4,087.07, yes really (!!?!@FadsF$), numerous reminders followed.
16. Day 38: Proposal finally in my inbox. What follows is an admittance of guilt and the proposal to settle. Looks like a happy end right? Not so fast. Proposal received on December 22nd at 09:33 AM & Day 39: Requesting confirmation of the stated reimbursement, sent on 23 December at 13:02
The highlights are:
- "Your BCH position was claimed at an incorrect time..... being claimed at an incorrect base price.";
- "...you were credited far less.... than should have been";
- "...orders after the 16:40:00 timestamp should not have gone through.";
- Your USD balance prior to the claim was 16,042 USD; remember this?; and
- "In light of this error".
- This initial offer would mean: $ -7,603 + 100x130,11 + 100x75,96 = $ 13,004. That's still 3k less than my initial account balance before this shit show. But alright, it looks like we're getting somewhere right?
18. Day 44: "it seems I misspoke in my previous outline", how many screwups are possible? Received on 28 December at 04:57 AM
19. Day 54: Demand letter by my lawyer sent on 7 January at 13:10 & Day 55: Quickest reply I've ever seen from BFX, wow. Received on 8 January at 02:37 AM & Day 61: E-mail by lawyer requesting my account balance to be reinstated to $ 16,042 (my equity before they screwed up). Sent on 14 January at 14:52 PM
- My lawyer sent a demand letter requesting my $$$ back;
- 10 day deadline given;
- Response by BFX is the quickest I've ever seen from them during the past 2 months; and
- They are trying to bury us in details here, mostly details that aren't of any importance. I'm a Finance as well as Financial Law major. I (heart) details.
20. Day 69: Lawyer BFX replies with "I trust that this comprehensive explanation of the proposal will satisfy your client's concern and we can move to wrap up settlement of this matter"
- This, redditors, is called stalling for time by their lawyers:
You know the weird part in all of this. When, not if, the Supervisory Board of iFinex finds out it has several investigations going on against them - because of a mere 16k - they are going to have a field day with these people, mark my words.
No comments:
Post a Comment