Prosecutors in the 2019 LeboBTC lawsuit have demanded Tether’s CTO Paolo Ardoino be deposed on Wednesday instead of early October. They claim the court should enforce the deposition because Ardoino is “indisputably available” and only needs to testify from his personal knowledge.
The prosecution says attempts to postpone the deposition to October will not give them enough time to investigate statements Ardoino may raise in his deposition since the court has set Oct. 23, as the cutoff point for discovery.
LeboBTC Sued Tether for Allegedly Manipulating Bitcoin Price
In 2019, digital investment consultancy LeboBTC sued Bitfinex and Tether for allegedly defrauding investors, manipulating markets, and hiding illicit proceeds. Citing a Bloomberg study, the plaintiffs accused Tether of minting its USDT stablecoin to manipulate Bitcoin’s (BTC) price.
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Recently, Tether celebrated a ruling by Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the US District Court for the Southern District Of New York that denied a prosecutor leave to amend his lawsuit against the company. Two perpetrators of the 2016 hack on Tether’s sister company Bitfinex pleaded guilty to money laundering in August.
Tether Disclosures May Not be Sufficient
Industry participants have long lamented the lack of transparency in Tether’s disclosures. While the Hong Kong-based firm issues attestations that summarize the assets backing its USDT coin, some argue the report doesn’t give a complete picture of the company’s health.
Ardoino has repeatedly emphasized that Tether is not required to make public disclosures as it is not a public company. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported the company’s loans that could present liquidity issues if Tether experienced a bank run.
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Responsible for roughly $80 billion of the total crypto market cap, the company provides a key way for crypto investors looking to bridge the gap between traditional and decentralized finance. For every USDT minted, Tether holds $1 in the form of low-yield government bonds and cash equivalents.
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