It\u2019s a tale as old as time: the Department of Justice investigating Tether and USDT. It\u2019s been reported far and wide, and for years on end, with speculation throughout. We\u2019re back again as 2022 comes to a close, this time courtesy of a new report from Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look at what\u2019s being reported, and Tether\u2019s response.<\/p>\n
Bloomberg\u2019s Latest Report On Tether<\/p>\n
On a Bloomberg Crypto Report live broadcast<\/a> on Monday afternoon, paired with a published piece<\/a> released earlier in the day, the outlet reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) was revamping investigations into potential bank fraud allegations against Tether.<\/p>\n According to Bloomberg, officials have pumped new life into the investigations, including handing the case over to Manhattan-based US Attorney Damian Williams, who Bloomberg describes as one of the most aggressive crypto prosecutors \u2013 to the degree that he even \u201crecently secured a guilty plea from a person affiliated with one of Tether\u2019s payment processors.\u201d<\/p>\n Reports have swirled around the DoJ and Tether for nearly half a decade, and shouldn\u2019t catch anyone by surprise at this point. However, the response from the stablecoin doesn\u2019t simply deny the Bloomberg report \u2013 it frames it as flat out false.<\/p>\n\n USDT’s market cap dominance has floated between 5-10% for most of this year. | Source: CRYPTOCAP: USDT on TradingView.com<\/a><\/p>\n Tether\u2019s Response<\/p>\n Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino issued a swift response via a Twitter thread:<\/p>\n 1\/Bloomberg first reported on the DOJ’s \u201cinvestigation\u201d in November of 2018 and in the years after. Stories which have been despicable attempts at crying wolf.<\/p>\n \u2014 Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) October 31, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n\n Tether released a formal response on their website<\/a> as well, describing Bloomberg\u2019s report as \u201cdesperate for attention\u201d and \u201crecycling old news that isn\u2019t even factual.\u201d Critics cite issues such as Tether\u2019s employee-to-circulating supply ratio (Tether has over $60B in USDT circulating, with a handful of employees), along with the stablecoins reserve discrepancy (the stablecoin platform paid over $60M in fines with no admittance of wrongdoing), as major concerns in Tether\u2019s viability to serve as the de facto \u2018reserve stablecoin.\u2019<\/p>\n Tether has continued to insist that the firm has remained transparent and in communication with law enforcement officials, and that it is \u201cbusiness as usual at Tether.\u201d The response goes on to directly contradict Bloomberg\u2019s report, stating that \u201cTether executives have had no interactions with the DOJ in connection with any investigation for well over a year and the DOJ does not appear to be actively investigating Tether.\u201d<\/p>\n Featured image from Pixabay, Charts from TradingView.com <\/p>\n It\u2019s a tale as old as time: the Department of Justice investigating Tether and USDT. It\u2019s been reported far and wide, and for years on end, with speculation throughout. We\u2019re back again as 2022 comes to a close, this time courtesy of a new report from Bloomberg.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look at what\u2019s being reported, and Tether\u2019s response.<\/p>\n Bloomberg\u2019s Latest Report On Tether<\/p>\n On a Bloomberg Crypto Report live broadcast<\/a> on Monday afternoon, paired with a published piece<\/a> released earlier in the day, the outlet reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) was revamping investigations into potential bank fraud allegations against Tether.<\/p>\n According to Bloomberg, officials have pumped new life into the investigations, including handing the case over to Manhattan-based US Attorney Damian Williams, who Bloomberg describes as one of the most aggressive crypto prosecutors \u2013 to the degree that he even \u201crecently secured a guilty plea from a person affiliated with one of Tether\u2019s payment processors.\u201d<\/p>\n Reports have swirled around the DoJ and Tether for nearly half a decade, and shouldn\u2019t catch anyone by surprise at this point. However, the response from the stablecoin doesn\u2019t simply deny the Bloomberg report \u2013 it frames it as flat out false.<\/p>\n USDT’s market cap dominance has floated between 5-10% for most of this year. | Source: CRYPTOCAP: USDT on TradingView.com<\/a><\/p>\n Tether\u2019s Response<\/p>\n Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino issued a swift response via a Twitter thread:<\/p>\n 1\/Bloomberg first reported on the DOJ’s \u201cinvestigation\u201d in November of 2018 and in the years after. Stories which have been despicable attempts at crying wolf.<\/p>\n \u2014 Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) October 31, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe writer of this content is not associated or affiliated with any of the parties mentioned in this article. This is not financial advice.
\nThis op-ed represents the views of the author, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Bitcoinist. Bitcoinist is an advocate of creative and financial freedom alike.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"