With Lutnick joining the Trump administration next year, Tether is expected to gain significant political support.
Source: cryptoslate
Translated by: Blockchain Knight
According to a report by Bloomberg last week, Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company partnering with Tether, is seeking to collaborate with the stablecoin issuer to launch a program that allows customers to borrow dollars against BTC as collateral.
Currently, the company plans to open loans based on $2 billion in BTC, but it is expected to increase to hundreds of billions.
Cantor Fitzgerald has been working to raise funds for this yet-to-be-launched plan.
Sources say: "If Tether decides to cooperate, it will become one of several financial backers."
Cantor Fitzgerald has established a deep business relationship with Tether.
Cantor Fitzgerald's custody business can earn tens of millions of dollars each year as it holds U.S. Treasury bonds worth billions, which back the world's largest stablecoin Tether (USDT).
In fact, even with global banks refusing, Cantor Fitzgerald continues to provide banking support for Tether.
Additionally, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal on November 24, Cantor Fitzgerald agreed last year to acquire about 5% of Tether's shares for approximately $600 million.
A few days ago, Trump nominated Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick as the next Secretary of Commerce; he is also one of Trump's transition advisors.
Once confirmed by the Senate, Lutnick will resign as the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
With Lutnick joining the Trump administration next year, Tether is expected to gain significant political support.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Giancarlo Devasini, suspected to be Tether's largest shareholder, previously stated that Lutnick would use his political influence to mitigate any potential threats against Tether.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that as a transition advisor, Lutnick has had a say in who Trump picks for other senior government positions, including those who may regulate Tether.
Tether often finds itself in controversy, with some questioning whether Tether has enough reserves to support USDT at a 1:1 ratio with the dollar.
However, Lutnick has personally guaranteed Tether multiple times.
In January of this year, Lutnick confirmed that Tether indeed has sufficient reserves to support its stablecoin.
Moreover, last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tether is under investigation in the U.S. for potentially violating sanctions and anti-money laundering regulations.
However, Tether has refuted this.
As a well-known supporter of BTC and digital assets, Lutnick stated in September this year: "Regulators should treat BTC as a commodity, just like gold or oil."
"Regulators know almost nothing about digital assets and how to regulate them."
