Lugano, Switzerland - At a recent PlanB event, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino publicly introduced the reserve asset portfolio supporting the company's Tether USD stablecoin (USDT) and responded to reports from The Wall Street Journal that Tether is under investigation by the US Department of Justice and Treasury. Ardoino strongly denies these allegations and accuses the report of being "just a rehash of old news".

USDT reserve assets

According to the report, Ardoino mentioned in his speech that Tether's asset portfolio includes about $100 billion of US treasury bond bonds, more than 82000 bitcoins (about $5.5 billion based on the current market value), and 48 tons of gold. He pointed out that these assets aim to provide stable support for the market and cope with the volatility of the cryptocurrency market and the uncertainty of investors.

Responding to 'false' accusations

After the Wall Street Journal published an article on October 25th, the report quickly caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community. The report states that US authorities suspect Tether of violating anti money laundering laws and US sanctions, and are conducting an investigation into it. Ardoino responded to this: "As we told The Wall Street Journal, there is no indication that Tether is under investigation. This article is just a rehash of old news." He also added that Tether has been cooperating with law enforcement agencies and actively involved in recovering stolen digital assets and freezing illegal transactions.

Tether has released data showing that since 2014, the company has assisted law enforcement agencies in recovering approximately $109 million for illegal activities such as fraud, evasion of sanctions, and cybercrime. Ardoino stated that Tether and law enforcement agencies maintain close cooperation to prevent USDT from being exploited by criminals, and emphasized that "we will know if we are under investigation, and these allegations are purely false

USDT continues to grow

Ardoino also mentioned that the regulatory policies for cryptocurrencies in the United States are lagging behind those of other countries, leading some innovative digital asset companies to relocate to regions with more favorable regulatory environments. However, he is optimistic about the potential changes that may occur in this situation after the 2024 US presidential election.

As of October 2024, Tether's USDT market value has reached $120 billion, further consolidating its leadership position in the stablecoin market. Investors and speculators generally believe that this marks a positive signal for the cryptocurrency market and anticipate that prices may continue to rise in the coming weeks and months.