UNUS SED LEO (LEO): how it works, supply and reviews
In short
- Type
- Exchange utility token issued by a company, not a blockchain of its own
- Burn
- Each month iFinex buys back LEO equal to at least 27% of its consolidated gross revenues of the previous month and burns it
- Risks and caveats
- LEO's value and benefits depend on a single company, iFinex, and its Bitfinex platforms.
- Checked
- 31 October 2026
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Key facts
- Ticker
- LEO
- Official site
- leo.bitfinex.com
Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.
What is UNUS SED LEO
UNUS SED LEO (LEO) is the utility token of iFinex, the British Virgin Islands company that operates the Bitfinex exchange. It was sold in a May 2019 initial exchange offering, and iFinex buys back and burns LEO every month using part of its revenue.
Network and consensus
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Exchange utility token issued by a company, not a blockchain of its own |
| Launched | Whitepaper released 10 May 2019, followed by a private initial exchange offering (IEO) |
| Offering | A subsidiary of iFinex planned to sell up to 1 billion USDt worth of LEO |
| Chains | Issued on Ethereum (ERC-20) and Vaulta (formerly EOS); the two versions convert on Bitfinex free of charge |
Supply and issuance
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Burn | Each month iFinex buys back LEO equal to at least 27% of its consolidated gross revenues of the previous month and burns it |
| Burn of recovered funds | At least 80% of net funds recovered from the 2016 Bitfinex hack go to buying back and burning LEO |
| Burn of recovered funds | 95% of net funds recovered from Crypto Capital are used to redeem and burn LEO |
| Issuance | The buy-back and burn terms were unchanged when Bitfinex moved to zero trading fees in December 2025 |
What LEO is used for
- Affiliate rebate multipliers on Bitfinex
- Discounts on deposit and withdrawal fees, where applicable
- A limited number of fee-free fiat withdrawals per month, depending on LEO held
- Trading fee discounts ended in December 2025, when Bitfinex set trading fees to zero
- Discount of up to 5% on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending fees on Bitfinex, scaled by the LEO held (help centre).
- Up to 25% off crypto deposit and withdrawal fees for holders of more than 50 million LEO (help centre).
Who develops and governs UNUS SED LEO
- Company
- iFinex Inc., a privately held company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, operates Bitfinex
- Legal entity
- Issuer: Unus Sed Leo Limited, a British Virgin Islands company limited by shares
- Governance
- No holder governance: buy-backs, burns and benefits are set by iFinex
- Headquarters
- Road Town, British Virgin Islands (dateline of Bitfinex announcements)
History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2 August 2016 | Bitfinex is hacked and loses 119,756 BTC; recovered funds were later tied to LEO burns. |
| 10 May 2019 | Bitfinex releases the UNUS SED LEO whitepaper; the private IEO raises nearly 1 billion USDt in under a week. |
| June 2019 | Bitfinex presents the UNUS SED LEO Transparency Initiative, built around a real-time token burn redemption mechanism, and launches the LEO Transparency Dashboard. |
| 14 February 2020 | LEO holder benefits are extended to LEO held across master and sub-accounts on Bitfinex. |
| 6 July 2023 | Bitfinex confirms that after Recovery Right Tokens are redeemed, up to 80% of remaining recovered hack assets go to LEO holders. |
| 18 June 2025 | LEO tokens on EOS are rebranded as tokens on Vaulta. |
| 17 December 2025 | Bitfinex moves to zero trading fees; the LEO trading-fee discount ends, other benefits and burns continue. |
Security and audits
- The issuer describes LEO as speculative and high-risk, aimed only at buyers who understand crypto tokens.
- The token sale excluded the United States, Canada and several other jurisdictions.
Security incidents
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2 August 2016 | Hack: Bitfinex, the exchange of LEO issuer iFinex, suffered a hack that depleted it of 119,756 BTC; the LEO whitepaper commits at least 80% of recovered net funds to LEO buybacks and burns. Funds returned: Bitfinex has reported partial recoveries through law enforcement, for example $312,219.71 in cash and 6.917 BCH received from the US DHS (announced 6 July 2023). | bitfinex.com |
Further incidents are reported by third parties (press, incident databases) but are not confirmed in the company’s own channels, so they are not listed here.
Risks and caveats
- LEO's value and benefits depend on a single company, iFinex, and its Bitfinex platforms.
- The issuer states the 2019 whitepaper is out of date and should not be relied on.
- Benefits can be changed by Bitfinex, as when trading fee discounts ended in December 2025.
- Sale was restricted for US, Canadian and other residents.
- On Bitfinex, LEO deposits, trading and withdrawals need Basic Plus or higher verification and are not available in some jurisdictions.
Official links
- Website: leo.bitfinex.com
- Whitepaper: www.bitfinex.com/wp-2019-05.pdf
- Blog: blog.bitfinex.com
- Support: support.bitfinex.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023342674-Unus-Sed-LEO-LEO
Questions and answers
What is UNUS SED LEO?
LEO is the utility token of iFinex, the operator of Bitfinex, issued by Unus Sed Leo Limited (British Virgin Islands) in May 2019.
Who created LEO?
Bitfinex created the token and released its whitepaper on 10 May 2019; the private IEO raised nearly 1 billion USDt.
What is the supply of LEO?
On 31 October 2026 the official dashboard showed 919,857,851.90 LEO in supply and 80,142,148.10 LEO burned.
How does the LEO burn work?
Every month iFinex buys back LEO equal to at least 27% of its previous month's gross revenues and burns it; recovered hack funds also go to burns.
Does LEO still give trading fee discounts?
No. Since Bitfinex set trading fees to zero in December 2025, the discount no longer applies; other benefits and burns continue.
Sources
- iFinex — UNUS SED LEO whitepaper (May 2019)
- iFinex's UNUS SED LEO Token — official dashboard
- Bitfinex blog — UNUS SED LEO first BURNday
- Bitfinex blog — Zero fees Q&A (17 December 2025)
- Bitfinex blog — Return of seized property to RRT holders (6 July 2023)
- Bitfinex Help Center — Unus Sed LEO (LEO)
- Bitfinex Help Center — UNUS SED LEO Token Holders Benefits
- Bitfinex Help Center — Unus Sed LEO Token Conversion
- Bitfinex blog — Bitfinex 2019: A year in review
- Bitfinex blog — UNUS SED LEO benefits in master and sub-accounts (14 February 2020)
- Bitfinex blog — Bitfinex introduces zero-fee trading (17 December 2025)
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