CHART: Tether has attracted US government action 19 times

By admin On Oct 28, 2024

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal broke news of another US government investigation into Tether. Anonymous sources familiar with the Manhattan US attorney’s office say that senior law enforcement officials are “looking at whether the cryptocurrency has been used by third parties to fund illegal activities.”

This announcement is yet another chapter in Tether’s legal saga. As early as 2012, lawsuits began against Bitcoinica — whose source code was used by Tether’s sister company, Bitfinex.

Legal issues would affect Tether every year since.

As the world’s largest stablecoin, tether (USDT) attracts criminals who find its properties of pseudonymity, chargeback resistance, and widespread acceptance to be useful. Although most uses of USDT are innocuous, its illegitimate uses are pernicious.

To track Tether’s run-ins with the US government across time, Protos has created a chart of some major US government actions involving the stablecoin giant. Note that this chart includes only US governmental actions and excludes numerous civil lawsuits and criminal investigations around the world.

Click to enlarge.

US government actions involving Tether

September 18, 2015

Bitfinex comments on its Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) probe.

USDT market cap: $451,000.

June 2, 2016

Bitfinex settles a CFTC allegation that it illegally traded customers’ bitcoin.

USDT market cap: $2.9 million.

July 21, 2016

Trendon Shavers, operator of a Ponzi scheme promoted by Bitfinex founder Raphael Nicolle, receives a prison sentence.

USDT market cap: $6.9 million.

September 14, 2017

Tether admits to the New York State Attorney General (NYAG) that since April 2017, it has not had a bank account with more than $61.5 million in cash.

USDT market cap: $418 million.

May 24, 2018

The Department of Justice (DoJ) and CFTC open a criminal probe into USDT-based bitcoin price manipulation.

USDT market cap: $2.5 billion.

April 25, 2019

NYAG demands documents from Tether.

USDT market cap: $2 billion.

May 1, 2019

Arizona US Attorney charges ‘shadow banker’ Reginald Fowler for fraudulently moving Tether’s funds.

USDT market cap: $2 billion.

May 5, 2019

The Southern District of New York (SDNY) US Attorney charges Fowler and Ravid Yosef for criminally misappropriating Tether’s reserves.

USDT market cap: $2 billion.

October 25, 2019

Ivan Manuel Molina Lee is arrested on charges of laundering money through Bitfinex.

USDT market cap: $4.2 billion.

September 24, 2020

US attorneys file charges against cartel members for using USDT in bribes.

USDT market cap: $15.2 billion.

February 23, 2021

Bitfinex pays $18.5 million to settle NYAG claims that it covered up major financial losses.

USDT market cap: $34.7 billion.

July 26, 2021

DoJ probes alleged bank fraud committed by Tether executives.

USDT market cap: $62 billion.

July 27, 2021

US President’s Working Group on Financial Markets discusses Tether.

USDT market cap: $62.2 billion.

October 15, 2021

CFTC fines Tether $41 million for false claims about USD reserves.

USDT market cap: $70 billion.

December 8, 2021

A US Senator chastises Tether executives for not attending a Senate hearing.

USDT market cap: $77 billion.

February 8, 2022

Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan arrested for stealing money from Bitfinex.

USDT market cap: $78 billion.

August 3, 2022

A Boston US Attorney seizes 73,586 USDT proceeds of crime.

USDT market cap: $66 billion.

December 15, 2023

Tether admits it has complied with information requests from DoJ, IRS, and Secret Service.

USDT market cap: $90.8 billion.

October 25, 2024

A Manhattan US Attorney is investigating Tether.

USDT market cap: $120 billion.

Source

0 23

Share FacebookTwitterGoogle+ReddItWhatsAppPinterestEmail