Bitfinex's Public Face Resigns Due to Conspiracy Theories, Abuse

Zane Tackett, the community director and product manager at Bitfinex, has officially announced his resignation from the exchange. Tackett reveals his leaving is due to a significant amount of rumors circulating.

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‘Insane Conspiracy Theories, Vile People, Incessant Vitriol’

On August 2 Bitfinex was hacked for 119,756 BTC, causing an uproar in the cryptocurrency community. Following the heist, the community was met by Tackett who represented the company, revealing its net losses and other elements concerning the breach. Tackett is now leaving because of many rumors and conspiracy theories.

“I have decided to resign because of the draining nature of dealing with the insane conspiracy theories, the vile people, and the incessant vitriol spewed at a team who have dedicated their life to bitcoin and creating the world’s best trading platform,” wrote Tackett. “Many of the most vocal critics of Bitfinex don’t want to see a healthy bitcoin ecosystem, they want to stir up shit and damage anyone they can to pump their referral links or just to stir up drama, i.e., troll.”

Believes Bitfinex Took Best Steps to Rectify Losses

After the hack, the bitcoin price took a 22% dive and has subsequently has come back to its original price position this November. Bitfinex had come up with a plan to pay restitution to its customer base with its BFX token plan. Tackett explains this was the best possible plan for everyone as the courts would have liquidated the entire company. The former Bitfinex community director says his team has worked around the clock to repay its customer base.

“The entire team operated around the clock for weeks trying to find a solution to repay users, bringing the site back up so that users could withdraw their money, and doing everything in their power to rectify the situation,” states Tackett.

If you had your BFX and sold today you would have ~85% of your funds returned. And if you invested in Bitfinex, you may very well end up in the green.

Tackett described his team working all hours to keep the exchange running properly. He said he’s never seen a team so dedicated to the “broader dream of bitcoin becoming mainstream.” Moreover, Tackett explained how proud he was for the exchange to be the top USD/BTC exchanges even after the hack. “Name another BTCUSD exchange that has reached a 24hr volume of 297,000btc, or even 100,000btc,” says Tackett.

Bitfinex Still Owns Much of the Market

Bitfinex has still pushed high volumes of USD/BTC trades in the last couple of months. It is interesting Tackett has decided to move on as rumors seem to have settled. The company has been slowly redeeming BFX tokens and has also recently tried to contact the hacker. There hasn’t been much detail on the outcome of the investigation and the company’s cooperation with law enforcement. This may be one reason why rumors have spread, as the firm has been tight-lipped on certain elements.

Tackett explained the Bitfinex team is still very passionate about bitcoin and he believes the exchange will “continue to dominate the BTC/USD market.” He added that the other day the exchange captured 32% of the market share. The guy who revealed the news of the horrible Bitfinex breach on August 2 said he will remain in this industry.

“I’ll still be in the Bitcoin industry, I don’t see that ever changing, and I’ll still be present on the forums and happy to help anyone with general questions about exchanges and trading in general, so feel free to reach out if you ever need anything,” says Tackett.

What do you think about Tackett’s resignation? Do you think Bitfinex has done right with its customers? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Bitfinex websites.

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