Tether Holdings Denies WSJ Report on Concealed Identities
Tether Holdings, the stablecoin provider, has denied a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that it and a connected cryptocurrency dealer had concealed identities by using fictitious documents. The WSJ provided documents that were used in the article as proof.
In a statement, Tether denounced the WSJ article as false and deceptive. The company’s representative said that Tether “does not tolerate any illegal or unlawful behavior” and has “strict policies and processes in place to guarantee that all entities using Tether comply with the relevant regulations and laws.”
The WSJ article was centered on a chat between Stuart Hoegner, general counsel at Tether, and a representative of the affiliated cryptocurrency broker Digifinex. From the article, the chat appeared to show that Tether and Digifinex had used fake documents to conceal the identities of their customers.
Tether has been under scrutiny for some time over its relationship with Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange. The New York Attorney General’s office has accused the two companies of covering up a loss of $850m in customer funds. Tether has denied the allegations.
The controversy surrounding Tether has raised concerns about the stability of the cryptocurrency market. Tether is one of the most widely used stablecoins, with a market capitalization of over $35bn. Its value is pegged to the US dollar, which means that it is supposed to be stable and reliable.
However, critics have raised questions about whether Tether has enough reserves to back up its tokens. Tether has claimed that it has enough reserves to cover all of its tokens, but it has not provided any evidence to support this claim.
The WSJ report is likely to add to the concerns about Tether and the wider cryptocurrency market. Investors are likely to be cautious about investing in cryptocurrencies until there is more clarity about the stability and reliability of the market.
