Cryptocurrency trading platform Bitfinex has announced the launch of EOSfinex, a decentralized exchange built on the EOSIO technology, in beta. The new platform aims to facilitate peer-to-peer value exchanges and support high-volume blockchain-based trading. EOSfinex will allow for a peer-to-peer network which will be entirely trustless, that can be viewed by participants. To begin with, it will trade major pairs, BTC/USD, ETH/USD and EOS/USD.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, said the company opted for the EOSIO technology because it supported high-speed transactions, particularly with high volume trading, “a strong advantage for on-chain trading.”
“This is an important development for both Bitfinex and EOS, as EOSfinex will be a highly-scalable, performance-driven platform, focused on transparency and decentralization,” Ardoino said. “With features such as easy scalability and flexibility, EOSfinex will display how trustless on-chain exchange and high-performance can be the expected norm, and how these are vital for the blockchain industry as a whole.”
EOSIO is an open source blockchain protocol aimed at supporting industrial-scale applications. The company claims its technology eliminates transaction fees and is capable of conducting millions of transactions per second.
Block.one, the company behind EOSIO, raised US$4 billion in a year-long token sale to fund the development of the platform. Following the token sale for the ERC20 EOS token on the Ethereum blockchain, EOS has been live on its own blockchain since June 14.
The announcement comes amidst controversies with Block.one. On Tuesday, it was revealed that some early employees and contractors had resigned from the Hong Kong company to start a new blockchain project that is currently under wraps.
David Moss, Thomas Cox, Brian Abramson and Corey J. Lederer, the employees, were the second, third, fourth and fifth to be hired by Block.one and took on technical roles, according to a report by CoinDesk. Moss had been the senior vice president of technology operations, Cox the vice president of product, Abramson the vice president of infrastructure and Lederer the senior director of technology products.
Bitfinex, which is operated by iFinex, a company headquartered in Hong Kong and registered in the British Virgin Islands, has been at the heart of recent scandals in the cryptocurrency space. Bitfinex is associated with Tether, a cryptocurrency which Tether Ltd. claims is pegged to the US dollar, with whom they share common shareholders and management. Critics have raised concerns about the relationship between the two companies with some suggesting that Tether may be creating value out of thin air.
Earlier this year, research found that price manipulation of Bitcoin on Bitfinex accounted for about half of the price increase for the cryptocurrency in late-2017.