Bloomberg published an article on Monday, citing unnamed sources, stating that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating Tether.
Tether has responded to a Bloomberg article published earlier Monday that claimed the stablecoin issuer is being probed by the DOJ. The alleged investigation is to determine if Tether executives committed bank fraud in the early stages of its formation. The DOJ is allegedly looking into whether or not Tether hid information from banks that some of its transactions were linked to digital assets, citing a trio of unnamed sources.
The response from Tether stated that the allegations were years old and the information from unnamed sources was “designed to generate clicks.”
Tether went on to make some allegations of its own in the press release. Specifically, Tether states that the article in question ‘follows a pattern of repackaging stale claims as “news’.” Tether adds that the allegations and efforts to discredit them will cause them to veer from its goal of remaining a community leader.
The response added that Tether regularly speaks with U.S. law enforcement agencies, the DOJ included, in order to remain transparent and accountable. “We are proud of our role as industry leaders in promoting cooperation between industry and government authorities in the U.S. and around the world. We remain committed to our customers and the industry-leading technology and transparency that has led to our growth.
The press release concluded by stating Tether will continue to serve the needs of customers and that “it is business as usual at Tether.” The Department of Justice has yet to comment.
Allegations by Bloomberg
In the controversial article, Bloomberg stated that the DOJ is looking into whether or not the digital token participated in bank fraud and that executives were in danger of being charged. The potential for a criminal case involving such figures in the cryptocurrency world would likely have a ripple effect on the entire market. Bloomberg also posted an interview with Financial Regulations Reporter for Bloomberg News, Matt Robinson.
Robinson claims that the DOJ has been keeping a close eye on Tether since back in 2018. The reporter states that Tether executives opened bank accounts abroad and not telling the banks how the accounts were going to be used. Robinson also said that Tether is a “huge component of the crypto market.” and that half of all bitcoin transactions are used by Tether. Robinson believes that a ruling against Tether could “really affect the plumbing of the crypto market, depending on what happens to the issuance of Tethers.” Robinson concludes that the DOJ’s next steps will be to weigh the allegations and decide whether to bring Tether’s executives up on charges.
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