Paolo Ardoino flexes ‘top-tier custodians’ in Tether v. Ripple stablecoin beef

—, , ,
—by Protos Staff

Ripple chief exec Brad Garlinghouse recently expressed his view via the World Class podcast that the “US Government is going after Tether” before emphasizing how important it is to the ecosystem.

This comment received a response from Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino on X (formerly Twitter), who attributed the comments from Garlinghouse to “An uniformed [sic] CEO, leading a company being investigated by the SEC, launching a competitive stablecoin (cui prodest).” 

Ripple announced last month that it intended to launch a US dollar-pegged stablecoin.

In his lengthy tweet, Ardoino also emphasized that Tether has “proved over time to have… top-tier custodians and profound compliance.”

Read more: The rise and fall of Crypto Capital Corp, crypto’s premiere shadow bank

For context re these ‘top-tier custodians,’ Tether once gave nearly a billion dollars of commingled client and corporate funds to an unlicensed money transmitter accused of money laundering for the cartels without even signing a contract.

Additionally, when considering Tether’s profound compliance, it’s important to note that it has previously settled with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over allegations that it failed to maintain advertised reserves, issued tethers against funds it hadn’t received, and used bank accounts of Tether associates to send and receive funds related to Tether.

Ardoino additionally emphasized that Tether had “onboarded the FBI and USSS for reissuances” and has worked “with 124 law enforcement agencies” over “198 requests from law enforcement to block wallets.” 

He also drew further comparisons between his firm and other stablecoins, pointing out that Tether “cooperates directly with law enforcement agencies, while other stablecoins, although they claim to be ‘more compliant’ they require a judge order, allowing hackers, scammers, and criminals a long time to move funds around.”

Ripple isn’t the only stablecoin issuer who has implied that Tether is among the targets of law enforcement. Indeed, Dante Disparte of Circle accused Tether of “counterfeiting the US dollar.” 

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.