What a Transparent Tether Means for Bitcoin.

[Malam90]

The New York Attorney General’s (NYAG) multi-year investigation into the twinned exchange and stablecoin issuer Bitfinex and Tether’s internal finances has wrapped, with the regulator bringing no formal charges. The firms will pay $18.5 million to settle an inquiry centered on claims that the U.S. dollar stablecoin was not fully backed, but have admitted no wrongdoing.

Tether (USDT) is the largest stablecoin in the crypto economy. In the past year it has grown from $2 billion to $34 billion, and serves a systemically important role for traders, exchanges and virtually all aspects of this emerging financial sector. Since tether’s inception, there have been unanswered questions as to whether this synthetic asset was fully backed by reserves held in a bank account, which Tether claimed.

“Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie,” Attorney General Letitia James said. According to court documents, Bitfinex and Tether “recklessly and unlawfully covered-up massive financial losses,” “obscured the true risk investors faced,” “were operated by unlicensed and unregulated individuals” and, at one point, lacked a bank account.
Tether looks to have gotten off fairly easy. In addition to the aforementioned fine, the firm will provide regular reports on Tether’s reserves for the next two years. The firm is also barred from operating in New York State.

This increased level of transparency is viewed positively by industry commentators. Castle Island Ventures partner and CoinDesk columnist Nic Carter said this was a historic “derisking event” for the industry. According to Carter, one of the largest hurdles for institutions to enter the market was the lack of certainty around USDT, despite its outsized role. Source