b'STATE REGULATORY ACTIONSIn the Matter of the Inquiry by Letitia James,exchange, investment advice or sale of securities or Attorney General of the State of New York v.commodities and provides the New York Attorney iFinex Inc., Case No. 2019-03341 (N.Y. App. Div.General with broad statutory authority to investigate 1st Dept. Mar. 3, 2020) potential violations. Bitfinex and Tether moved to dismiss the New York Attorney Generals petition On March 3, 2020, the New York Appellate Division,on the grounds that the court lacked personal and First Department, heard oral argument in the appealsubject matter jurisdiction. The trial court denied the of Bitfinex (i.e., iFinex, Inc., BFXNA Inc., and BFXWWmotion on August 19, 2019.Inc.) and Tether (i.e., Tether Holdings Limited, Tether Operations Limited, Tether Limited, and TetherOn appeal, Bitfinex and Tether argued that the trial International Limited), which seek to overturn the trialcourts decision should be reversed because (among courts order denying their motion to dismiss the Newother reasons) the trial court lacked personal and York Attorney Generals claims that they violated Newsubject matter jurisdiction. First, Bitfinex and Tether York securities laws. argued that the trial court lacked personal jurisdiction because (1) Bitfinex and Tether have barred New Bitfinex is one of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Tether is a company that issues a stablecoin cryptocurrency called tether, which is backed by fiat currencies such as U.S. dollars and euros. Since tether is backed one-to-one by fiatThe New York Attorney General argued that currency, it is thought to be more stable and lessBitfinex and Tether were not entitled to halt vulnerable to large swings in value often experiencedits investigation based on objections to what by other cryptocurrencies. they think the New York Attorney General The New York Attorney General filed a petition inwill claim in a future lawsuit. Indeed, the New New York state court on April 24, 2019, alleging thatYork Attorney General need not definitively Bitfinex and Tether hid a loss of more than US $850establish a violation of New York law but only million from investors and then used up to US $700a reasonable basis to believe that Bitfinex and million of U.S. dollar reserves to cover that loss. TheTether violated New York law and are subject to petition brought claims for violations of the Martin Actthe New York Attorney Generals jurisdiction. a New York state law that prohibits (among other things) fraudulent practices relating to the purchase, 15'