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As U.Today reported in May 2024, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, while talking about cryptocurrencies and blockchain on his podcast, called Tether a “black market” over its flagship product USDT. He said he expected a “swan event” to occur.
A recent report by the WSJ showed that this gloomy prediction could come true. Moving forward, it is important to note that Tether’s CEO denied the WSJ report and said the information published therein was “patently false.”
Garlinghouse, May 2024: “U.S. government targets Tether”
Speaking with World Class podcast host Chris Vasquez in early May, Brad Garlinghouse said he felt it was clear that the U.S. government would soon “go after Tether.” It was then that Ripple announced the upcoming launch of a new product, the Ripple USD Stablecoin (RLUSD).
At the time, Garlinghouse said he expected a black swan event for cryptocurrencies. He cited the collapse of the FTX exchange and its founder Sam Bankman Freed’s eventual imprisonment, as well as the situation with Binance’s legendary CEO Zhao Changpeng, as examples of “precursors”. I mentioned it.
CZ spent four months in prison, from May to October, and was released at the end of September. He has also been permanently banned from managing Binance by current CEO Richard Teng.
Garlinghouse said black swans cannot really be predicted because such events are unpredictable and appear suddenly. However, he shared his concerns about Tether’s future and his expectations that the government might pursue it.
related
Tether CEO denies government crackdown
As reported by U.Today, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has responded to a WSJ report that the US government is conducting a criminal investigation into the company. Ardoino emphasized that Tether “regularly and directly works with law enforcement authorities to prevent the misuse of USDT by rogue states, terrorists, and criminals.”
“We will know if we are under investigation,” he said, adding that the article’s claims are far from the truth and “the claims in the article are patently false.” Bitcoin fell to $66,000 after the WSJ article was published, but the world’s leading virtual currency has since managed to recover and regain the $67,000 level.
At Tether, we regularly work directly with law enforcement authorities to prevent the misuse of USDt by rogue states, terrorists, and criminals. We can tell if we are being investigated, as the article falsely claims. Based on that, we can confirm the following claims…
— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) October 25, 2024
