Tether Addresses Concerns Over Account Terminations

Tether, the company responsible for issuing the stablecoin, has finally addressed some concerns regarding its operational decisions.

According to documents disclosed by the New York Attorney General (NYAG), the stablecoin issuer reportedly deactivated approximately 29 accounts belonging to prominent cryptocurrency players in 2021.

The preponderance of the individuals on the list appear to have had their accounts terminated for various reasons.

While the specific reasons for the account terminations were not disclosed explicitly, Tether has indicated that it is reticent to comment on individual relationships.

As required by Tether’s compliance policies, they clarified that all individuals had passed rigorous compliance reviews during the onboarding process and ongoing monitoring.

Notable entities such as MoonPay, BlockFi, CMS Holdings (a crypto investment firm), and Galois Capital (a defunct crypto hedge fund) were among those whose accounts were deactivated.

The NYAG investigation concluded as early as February 2021, which is noteworthy.

Nonetheless, it has come to light that certain investigative documents date back to around June of the same year.

Note that the user credentials contained within these documents have already been removed.

During its investigation into Tether and its sibling company Bitfinex for the misappropriation of $850 million in funds, the New York Attorney General’s Office collected these documents.

During this time, iFinex, the parent company of both entities, requested a 30-day extension to submit the essential financial documents to NYAG a few days before the previously scheduled deadline.

In the end, the parties reached a settlement in which they agreed to pay a $18.5 million fine and cease trading in New York.

Subsequently, media outlets, including Coinbase, demanded that the NYAG make their inaugural quarterly report public following the Freedom of Information Act (FOIL).

Tether, however, objected to this request, citing the need to protect the confidentiality of its customers’ information from potential misuse by evil individuals.

Despite Tether’s objection, the NYAG granted media outlets access to the documents, one of which revealed the deactivation of multiple cryptocurrency company accounts.