Tether, the company behind market-leading stablecoin Tether (USDT), has addressed concerns regarding its operational decisions.
According to documents released by the New York Attorney General (NYAG), Tether reportedly deactivated approximately 29 accounts belonging to prominent cryptocurrency players in 2021. It appears that most individuals on the list had their accounts terminated for different reasons.
While the reasons for the account terminations were not disclosed, Tether responded by indicating that it is unwilling to comment on individual relationships. However, the company clarified that all individuals had undergone rigorous compliance checks during onboarding, as well as ongoing monitoring, as mandated by Tether’s compliance policies.
Among the deactivated accounts were MoonPay, BlockFi, CMS Holdings and Galois Capital.
Although the NYAG investigation concluded as early as February 2021, it has come to light that certain documents in the investigation extend until around June of the same year. User codes within these documents have already been redacted.
The Office of the New York Attorney General gathered these documents during its investigation into Tether and its sister company Bitfinex for the misappropriation of $850 million in funds. During this time, iFinex, the parent company of both entities, requested a 30-day extension to produce the critical financial documents before NYAG a few days before the expiration of the previously scheduled date.
Related: USDT issuer Tether responds to Chinese securities exposure reports
Ultimately, the involved parties reached a settlement in which they agreed to pay a penalty of $18.5 million and halt trading activities in New York. Subsequently, media outlets, including Coinbase, requested the NYAG to publicly disclose their initial quarterly report under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). However, Tether objected to this request, citing the need to safeguard its customers’ confidential information from potential exploitation by malicious individuals.
Despite Tether’s objection, the NYAG allowed media outlets access to the documents, revealing the deactivation of numerous cryptocurrency company accounts as one of the uncovered matters.
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