Tether is trying to strengthen its reputation in the US

One of the largest financial institutions in the United States, Cantor Fitzgerald, is in talks with Tether, the issuer of the largest stablecoin (USDT), to launch a billion-dollar Bitcoin lending program. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Cantor also acquired a 5% stake in Tether worth about $600 million, writes RBC Crypto.

Against this background, WSJ journalists again recalled that Tether, and more specifically its stablecoin USDT, “has given birth to a shadow, difficult-to-control financial system.” The publication also noted that the company is under investigation by the US Treasury Department and the US Department of Justice for possible violations of anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.

At the same time, the head of Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, was selected by US President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Secretary of Commerce. Lutnik announced plans to launch a new lending program using Bitcoin collateral at the end of July at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, indicating an initial lending volume of $2 billion. According message sources Bloombergin the future they plan to expand the program to “tens of billions.” No other details were announced.

USDT has once again attracted the attention of journalists due to the cryptocurrency’s possible use in illegal transactions, including fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion. At the end of October, the WSJ published information about an investigation into Tether for violating sanctions and anti-money laundering rules.

The company, headed by Paolo Ardoino, is constantly criticized by various market participants and organizations. Because of this, Tether has to publish refutations of the accusations and appeals to journalists on its website. Tether estimates that since 2021, the WSJ has released more than 80 “revelations” about it and USDT. But despite them, the issuer of the largest stablecoin continues to operate, and, according to Ardoino, the company meets high standards of doing business not only in the United States, but throughout the world.

After the US presidential election in early November, the capitalization of USDT from Tether grew by more than 10%, reaching almost $133 billion, which became a historical record for the project.

Previous administration

The growth of USDT capitalization coincided with the general growth of the crypto market, as well as the expectations of crypto users to formulate a more friendly policy on the part of the future Trump administration.

Since the beginning of November, Bitcoin has risen almost 50% to $98.7 thousand, which is comparable to the growth of the total crypto market capitalization, which amounted to $3.4 trillion compared to $2.3 trillion before the election, according to Coinmarketcap data as of November 25.

Speaking on the same stage with Lutnik at the Bitcoin 2024 cryptocurrency conference in Nashville at the end of July, Trump stated about the intention to create a “strategic reserve of Bitcoin,” emphasizing the importance of cryptocurrencies for the country’s economic competitiveness.

Following this, it is expected that the Trump administration will try to reset and rethink cryptocurrency regulatory policies. In particular, this concerns the attitude towards the crypto market on the part of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has strengthened control over the cryptocurrency market under current President Joe Biden.

In addition, Trump has become an active supporter of digital assets, issuing several series of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as well as openly supporting one of the cryptocurrency-based lending platforms, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), where his three sons are members of the team.

And Trump Media, which Trump owns, is discussing the purchase of the crypto trading platform Bakkt, and is also preparing to appoint Kelly Loeffler, the former CEO of Bakkt, as head of the department of agriculture, as writes The Block.

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