Bitfinex not scrutinizing its IEO offerings properly

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Bitfinex, in conjunction with its Ethfinex cryptocurrency exchange, recently introduced a new initial exchange offering (IEO) platform, in response to the negative activity associated with initial coin offerings (ICOs). The platform, Tokinex, allows users to participate in project launches using funds they hold in their personal wallets on the exchanges and Bitfinex has said that it will ensure “transparency” and “due diligence.” It appears that those assertions may have been a little exaggerated.

According to Maple Leaf Capital, a crypto investment firm, Ampleforth (AMPL) is “anything but stable.” The company published a series of tweets last week in which it highlights the negative aspects of the currency and its characteristics, leading off by asserting that “The somewhat misleading signals might fool many initially, but it’s great trading sardine!”

Maple Leaf explains that AMPL incorporates mechanics that don’t offer a great deal of stability and that it is easy to manipulate. It adds, “So even if price is stable, as long as it’s higher than 1.05, your portfolio value increase as [the number of tokens you hold] goes up slowly. […] I can see this make for a great narrative—a double-kill so to speak for retail—not only can the price pump, but your holding size also increases.”

It also states that, because of the number of AMPL tokens in circulation, the price of the token can be easily and artificially manipulated in order to maintain it above the $1.05 mark. Maple Leaf further offers that the stabilization mechanisms are inherently flawed.

Those mechanisms could lead to “an expansionary cycle could be exponential (P*Q) expansion of one’s portfolio value. Slick story to spread… When price dips below 0.95 and enters contraction, I can totally see a double whammy—you lose value on price, and by the way the amount of tokens you own shrink every day. Who in the right mind will act as [a] ‘central bank’ to stabilize?”

AMPL creators assert that it “cannot be thought of as a stablecoin initially” because the “time to reach equilibrium is market dependent.” However, in the same breath, it says that commodities such as gold and silver cannot efficiently respond to changes in demand, making them a poor substitute for central-bank-money.” In other words, it is meant to be a more efficient alternative than commodities such as gold and silver, even though it admits it cannot respond efficiently.