Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has responded to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s recent remarks about the United States government targeting Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer. Ardoino took to social media to address the potential U.S. agency action against Tether and criticized Garlinghouse for spreading fear about Tether. He pointed out the hypocrisy of Garlinghouse’s comments, considering that Ripple is currently under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is planning to launch its own stablecoin to compete with Tether’s USDT.
Ardoino emphasized that USDT is the largest stablecoin in terms of market share and has millions of users worldwide. He highlighted the positive impact of USDT on banking users in developing economies. Ardoino also listed several factors that make USDT compliant and widely used. He revealed that Tether has collaborated with 124 law enforcement agencies across more than 40 countries and has blocked over $1.3 billion worth of assets associated with scams, hacks, and money laundering since its inception. Of this amount, Tether blocked over $639 million in collaboration with U.S. law enforcement.
Furthermore, Ardoino disclosed that Tether has voluntarily complied with 198 requests from law enforcement to block wallets in the past 12 months, with 90 of these requests coming from U.S. law enforcement agencies. In the last three years, Tether has complied with 339 requests, with 158 of them from U.S. law enforcement.
Ardoino concluded his statement with a jab at other stablecoin issuers, stating that Tether directly cooperates with law enforcement agencies, unlike other issuers who only comply with judicial orders.
Garlinghouse’s comments about a potential crypto-related black swan event and the U.S. government targeting Tether raised concerns within the crypto community. Some viewed it as a sign of impending regulatory action, while others saw it as a competitive tactic since Ripple is planning to launch its own stablecoin.
Cointelegraph reached out to Tether for comments but has not yet received a response.