Tether Collaborates With FBI And DOJ, USDT Stablecoins Are Even Depeg From Dollar Values

USDT stablecoin value was depreciated. (Photo; Doc. Dchained)

JAKARTA - Tether's USDT stablecoin is depreciated from the US dollar value. USDT had touched the level of $0.985 (Rp 15,321.95) on several popular crypto exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. In fact, the value of USDT should remain stable and parallel to the value of the US dollar, which is 1:1.

The cause of the decline in USDT value was attributed to Tether's announcement on December 15 about freezing crypto wallets that store more than $435 million (IDR 6.75 trillion) USDT tokens. This freeze was made at the request of US law enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI, and the US Secret Service, according to Cryptonews.

Tether claims that this freeze is a form of cooperation with US authorities to prevent criminal activity involving USDT. Despite that, this move also raises doubts about Tether's credibility as a neutral and transparent stablecoin publisher.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that Tether was grateful for the opportunity to answer concerns by US lawmakers, and committed to continuing to cooperate with law enforcement in the US and globally.

"Tether is trying to become a world-class partner for the US as we continue to help law enforcement and expand dollar dominance globally," he said in a letter sent to Senator Cynthia M. Lummis and Congressman J. French Hill on December 15.

The freezing of massive assets by Tether surprised many crypto actors. Checkmate, the leading on-chain analyst of Glassnode, quipped on social media X (Twitter), "Tether is a CBDC. People who question the truth in chaos." Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also showed his admiration on social media platform X by uploading a GIF that described his surprise and surprise.