Tether and Bitfinex CTO Accused of Money Laundering

The bosses of Tether and Bitfinex face lawsuits. (Photo; Doc. Yahoo Finance)

JAKARTA - Paolo Ardoino, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Tether and Bitfinex, will testify in a class action lawsuit that has been ongoing since 2019. This lawsuit was first filed by LeboBTC co-founder Jason Leibowitz, and includes claims of financial misconduct by Bitfinex and Tether.

The group of plaintiffs is seeking compensation of more than 1.4 trillion US dollars or the equivalent of IDR 21.4 quadrillion, on charges including bank fraud and money laundering. Commenting on this, Tether denied all these accusations. Apart from financial issues, this lawsuit also leads to information about Tether's reserve funds.

The dispute between the two parties also concerns topics that were allowed to be discussed in Ardoino's testimony, such as allegedly fraudulent trading records, the company's lending policies, and the wallets used to store Tether reserves. The judge has ruled that Ardoino must testify on relevant topics.

Tether currently dominates the stablecoin market with a share of around 64 percent and a market capitalization of USD 83.6 billion (IDR 1.2 quadrillion). Despite this, regulatory bodies in the United States have expressed concerns regarding Tether's reserves.

Last year, Tether and Bitfinex reached a settlement with the New York State Attorney General regarding the investigation, which resulted in a ban on their business activities in New York.

Judge Katherine Polk Failla expressed concern over the defendant's lack of preparation and the speed with which the lawsuit was processed. He emphasized that adding new topics since August should not be a major problem for the defendants.

This legal journey will be a highlight for crypto market players, and the outcome of Ardoino's testimony could have a significant impact on these companies and the crypto market as a whole.