Bitfinex's Parent Company Has a New Offshore Services Provider

iFinex, the parent company of controversial cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, appears to have hired a new offshore corporate services provider.

A trademark application dated Oct. 31 gives iFinex's address as care of SHRM Trustees Ltd., marking a change from prior trademark applications - including one filed in June 2017 - which gave the address as care of Estera Corporate Services Ltd. Both SHRM and Estera, the filings show, are located in Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands.

Estera, which changed its name from Appleby in April 2016, also served as a director of Tether Holdings Ltd., according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' database of offshore leaks.

Why SHRM? According to SHRM's website, the firm provides a number of services to corporations, funds, family offices and yacht enthusiasts.

The site lists a number of these services, including "Formation and administration of onshore and offshore companies" and "Provision of directors and/or managers" - both standard offerings in the offshore services industry.

"After Mossfon raised questions about compliance," the BBC wrote, "Bridgewaters transferred most of its BVI companies to another financial services company, SHRM Trustees, in February 2015.".

iFinex's change in offshore service providers recalls the months-long search for a stable banking partner that Bitfinex and Tether engaged in under significant public scrutiny.

For some time it was not clear where Bitfinex and Tether were banking, and the exchange was pushed to publicly deny that it was insolvent.

The anxiety in the market around Bitfinex and Tether continues.

Tether has sought to produce convincing proof that the outstanding supply - which has shrunk markedly as the company has removed hundreds of millions of tokens from circulation - is backed by dollar deposits.