Tether, the company behind the 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 of the people on the list terminated their accounts for different reasons.
While the reasons for the account termination were not disclosed, Tether answered indicating that he 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 in February 2021, it has come to light that certain documents in the investigation extend to June of the same year. The user codes within these documents have already been redacted.
The NYAG gathered these documents while investigating Tether and its sister company Bitfinex for misappropriating $850 million in funds. During this time, iFinex, the parent company of both entities, requested a 30-day extension to produce critical financial documents before the due date previously scheduled.
Related: USDT Issuer Tether Responds to Chinese Securities Exposure Reports
Ultimately, those involved the parties reached an agreement in which Tether agreed to pay an $18.5 million fine and stop trading activities in New York. The NYAG was subsequently called upon by the media and Coinbase to publicly release Tether's initial quarterly report under the Freedom of Information Act. However, Tether opposed this request, citing the need to safeguard its customers' confidential information from potential exploitation by malicious individuals.
Despite Tether's objection, NYAG allowed the media access to the documents, revealing the deactivation of numerous company accounts.
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