Tether calls WSJ article on shadow schemes misleading

The issuer of Tether (USDT) said the conclusions in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article were ‘outdated assertions’ that are ‘inaccurate and misleading’.

More Tether FUD from WSJhttps://t.co/l6DBFEtENp

— Tether (@Tether_to) March 3, 2023

On March 3, the WSJ published a piece alleging that in 2018 Tether and Bitfinex used shell companies to gain access to the banking system.

Media, citing various emails, indicated that intermediaries behind the firms in China falsified documents. Meanwhile, Tether and Bitfinex allegedly ‘used various means’ to bypass access restrictions to financial institutions.

“Bitfinex and Tether have world-class compliance programs and comply with applicable legal requirements for AML, KYC and CFT. … These unfair attacks will not prevent us from continuing our efforts and offering the most liquid and reliable stablecoins, which the market has clearly recognised, making us leaders in the industry”, — the issuer said.

The CTO of the company, Paolo Ardoino, called The Wall Street Journal article “a pile of misinformation and inaccuracies”.

I’m at the PlanB anniversary in #lugano
So much energy and people excited to talk about #Bitcoin
While I was on on stage I heard some clown honks, pretty sure was WSJ.
As always ton of misinformation and inaccuracies. Poor guys, must be difficult be them but need better media.

— Paolo Ardoino ? (@paoloardoino) March 3, 2023

Earlier Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Department of Justice reopened an investigation into possible bank fraud by Tether’s executives. The company criticised the publication.

Prior to that, the stablecoin issuer denied rumours about the dominance of Chinese commercial paper in its reserves.

In December 2022, Tether called a WSJ article about the stablecoin “the media’s hypocrisy, asleep at the wheel of information.”

In February 2023, Tether Limited reported a net profit of $700 million for October–December.