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iFinex, the owner of Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, has reportedly raised the full $1 billion goal for its new exchange token, LEO.
. @bitfinex is able to raise 1b USDt in 10 days, in a private sale. Private companies, giants in our industry and outside, made investments for > 100m each. A legion of inside and outside users made investments for > 1m each.
— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) May 13, 2019
According to a recent tweet by Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino, the company completed the token sale through private investors.
Ardoino notes that private companies and major high net-worth individuals, both inside and outside of the crypto industry, made investments of more than $100 million each. Additionally, an unknown number of other investors made contributions of more than $1 million apiece.
“Why? Because they know we are trustworthy, they recognize what we have been doing (without needing us bragging about it publicly) and they want us keep fighting for the industry whole,” added Ardoino. “Their own words. Thank you everyone for the amazing support we got. We are impressed.”
Similar to Binance Coin (BNB), LEO tokens will provide discounts on trading and lending fees on Bitfinex and EOSFinex. The prospectus states that Bitfinex will be re-purchasing LEO on a monthly basis at the market price using at least 27% of iFinex’s consolidated gross revenue from the previous month — until 100 million or fewer LEO are left. Tokens used for fees, “may also be burned.”
While iFiniex originally planned to open up the sale to the general public, it looks like the private investors have a large appetite for the new exchange token. The raised funds are allegedly going to be used to loosen the burden of the $850 million in funds that are currently frozen in numerous accounts controlled by Crypto Capital, a payment processing company tied to QuadrigaCX.
Read: The LEO Whitepaper
Related: Bitfinex Plans to Raise $1 Billion With an Exchange Token Offering
Disclaimer: This article’s author has cryptocurrency holdings that can be tracked here. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.
