Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino Refutes Allegations Amid SEC Investigation Speculations
In a recent outburst on the social media platform X, Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, directed a stern rebuke towards Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse for suggesting that the U.S. government is targeting the leading stablecoin issuer, Tether. This response came after Garlinghouse’s comments in a podcast where he hinted at ongoing tensions between Tether and the U.S. government.
According to a report by U.Today, Garlinghouse expressed certainty about the adversarial stance of the U.S. authorities towards Tether, citing concerns over its massive scale and the unpredictable impacts it could have on the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Tether’s USDT stablecoin currently boasts a market cap of $110.8 billion as per CoinGecko’s data.
Appointed as Tether’s head in October of this year, Ardoino labeled Garlinghouse as an “uninformed CEO” in his post. He highlighted that Ripple, under Garlinghouse’s leadership, is itself under scrutiny by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Additionally, Ardoino brought to light that Ripple is planning to launch its own stablecoin product, which would directly compete with Tether’s USDT. The SEC has described this yet-to-be-launched U.S. dollar-backed cryptocurrency as an “unregistered crypto asset” in recent filings.
Ardoino also defended the integrity and security of the Tether ecosystem, noting its collaborations with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis and global law enforcement agencies. He emphasized Tether’s compliance with OFAC/SDN regulations, the presence of an internal investigations team within Tether, and the use of various tools to monitor primary and secondary markets. Ardoino mentioned that Tether has frozen over $1.3 billion primarily related to fraud, hacking incidents, and issues linked to machine learning since its inception.
This back-and-forth between two high-profile leaders in the cryptocurrency world highlights the ongoing tensions and regulatory challenges within the industry, underscoring the intricate dynamics between leading crypto firms and regulatory authorities.
