Tether CTO calls USDT depeg ‘good stress test’ for company News ▸ Tether ▸ Stablecoins
Tether CTO calls USDT depeg ‘good stress test’ for company
Paolo Ardino says Tether has nothing to hide as it dropped opposition toward a freedom of information request.
2 min read
Updated: Jun. 16, 2023 at 2:22 pm UTC
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Paulo Ardoino said the Tether “attack” was a good stress test but is now “dying off.”
Tether (USDT) moved from a low of $0.99579 on June 15, reaching a local top of $0.99976 later in the day – recovering its de-pegged position.
As reported by CryptoSlate, the brief de-peg was attributed to mass Tether selling within DeFi protocols. This presented as heavily skewed USDT balances within certain liquidity pools.
Tether CTO: Attack lacked power
Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino labeled the event an attack that lacked power and is now “dying off already.” He added:
“This attack is a good stress test for us, nothing more. We’ll demonstrate, as we did several times in the past, that Tether is strong, liquid and ready to protect its community.“
The incident coincided with CoinDesk winning a legal struggle to access reports on enforcement action by the New York Attorney General (NYAG) against Tether.
In February 2021, following an investigation that centered on claims Tether is 1-to-1 backed with U.S. dollars, the NYAG ordered Bitfinex and Tether to cease trading activity in the state of New York and to submit regular reports about its collateral reserves.
Commenting on the legal battle, Ardoino said Tether dropped its opposition to CoinDesk’s freedom of information request “because transparency matters” – more so in the current bear market climate.
He added that Tether has nothing to hide – explaining that previous opposition to the information request was based on “ring-fencing of our private information,” which is less relevant today.
The information from the report obtained by CoinDesk revealed extensive disclosures, including small regional banking partners, making third-party loans, and exposure to Chinese commercial papers.
On June 16, Tether released a post responding to the disclosures, saying it “is in a completely different position compared to 2 years ago.” It added that the company’s exposure to commercial papers was reduced to zero in 2022, and it aims to bring its secured loans portfolio to zero soon. Furthermore, per its latest attestation statement, Tether is holding a $2.4 billion surplus.
At the time of the NYAG case, Tether’s market cap was $34 billion. Today, it is $83.5 billion.
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Posted In: Tether, Stablecoins
Author 
Samuel Wan
Samuel Wan, a finance professional turned full-time crypto content creator, values individual autonomy and personal freedom in his pursuits.
Editor Editor 
Liam 'Akiba' Wright
Also known as "Akiba," Liam is a reporter, editor and podcast producer at CryptoSlate. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change.
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Launched in 2014, Tether is a blockchain-enabled platform designed to facilitate the use of fiat currencies in a digital manner.
Tether Limited
Tether Limited is the company that introduced Tether (USD₮ or USDT), an asset-backed cryptocurrency stablecoin, in 2014.
Paolo Ardoino joined Bitfinex at the beginning of 2015 and now serves as Chief Technology Officer.
