Tether Slams Bloomberg’s Investigative Report as Pre-Packaged with A Pre-Determined Narrative
Bloomberg says Tether has invested billions of dollars of its reserves in Chinese commercial paper and loaned $1 billion to crypto lender Celsius Network with Bitcoin as collateral.
“Crypto Mystery: Where’s the $69 Billion Backing the Stablecoin Tether?” is Bloomberg’s latest investigative report covering the stablecoin despite Tether sharing the breakdown of its reserves and NYAG settling the 22-month inquiry into the stablecoin issuer and the exchange Bitfinex.
Tether slammed Bloomberg’s report saying all it had was old news and dubious sources, making it a “pre-packaged and pre-determined narrative.”
“Crypto—and Tether in particular—are fostering a revolution in financial inclusion, transforming a model that doesn’t work in a modern world,” said the issuer on Thursday in a statement.
“It’s another tired attempt to undermine a market leader whose track record of innovation, liquidity, and success speaks for itself.”
The takeaways of Bloomberg’s story include billions of dollars of Tether’s reserves being invested in Chinese commercial paper. Recently, Tether denied that it holds any Evergrande debt and has said that the vast majority of commercial papers have high grades from credit-rating firms.
According to the report, Tether has loaned $1 billion to crypto lender Celsius Network with Bitcoin as collateral, on which the latter pays an interest rate of 5%-6%. Tether was actually the lead investor in Celsius network’s $30 million funding round last year.
“It’s not a stablecoin, it’s a high-risk offshore hedge fund,” Bloomberg quoted John Betts, former CEO of Noble Bank International LLC in Puerto Rico, which Tether used. In response to this, Tether said they fired Betts as its banker, and he has been “accused of engaging in egregious and wasteful self-dealing and seeking to enrich himself at Noble’s expense” in an ongoing lawsuit.
The investigation further reports the US Department of Justice looking into Tether executives regarding criminal bank fraud investigation and that the FBI is examining whether they deceived banks years ago to open accounts.
Regulatory scrutiny of the cryptocurrency market, however, is nothing new. As the sector gains mainstream adoption, authorities around the world are struggling to regulate the nascent asset class while making sure innovation is not stifled.
“(Tether) is a resource for the unbanked, a tool for an evolving payment system, and a leader in driving the mainstream adoption of a new financial revolution. Tether is the most liquid stablecoin on the market, it was the first stablecoin, and it has withstood years of volatility.”
