On Friday, the U.S. newspaper “The Wall Street Journal” caused the interruption of the price rally in the crypto market, making serious accusations against Tether.
The newspaper spread a wave of FUD claiming that the stablecoin company was involved in criminal activities such as money laundering and sanctions violations.
A few hours after the publication of the article, Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino denied the accusations against Plan B of Lugano.
Over the weekend, Bitcoin recovered its prices, getting back on track for the bull market.
WSJ against Tether: the accusations of money laundering and sanctions violations halt the crypto rally
On Friday, October 25, the rally of the crypto sector was momentarily interrupted by a media revelation from the WSJ that caused quite a stir.
The daily newspaper, which boasts over 2 million copies printed per day in the United States, has made accusations against Tether highlighting various illegal activities committed.
According to journalists Angus Berwick, Vivian Salama, and Ben Foldy, it would have favored money laundering and the evasion of Western sanctions.
In practice, Tether allegedly used its stablecoin USDT to finance criminal activities or to launder money generated by such organizations.
Heavy details are also being read in this historical period, with the crypto society being linked to the terrorist group Hamas and Russian arms traffickers.
BREAKING : US GOVERNMENT IS PROBING TETHER FOR SANCTIONS & LAUNDERING VIOLATIONS PER WSJ$USDT
— GURGAVIN (@gurgavin) October 25, 2024
The WSJ also reported on how the Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into the use of USDT by third parties, highlighting the unlawful nature.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is reportedly investigating the largest stablecoin by market capitalization.
Consider that, as suggested by the daily newspaper, Tether allows the exchange of 190 billion dollars in USDT every day, moving an entire crypto economy.
Furthermore, the majority of speculative rallies and upward movements of cryptocurrencies are triggered by the influx of liquidity in USDT.
The news halts the crypto market rally
The bad news spread by the WSJ caused the temporary halt of the crypto market rally, just as prices were about to take off.
Bitcoin, which was on the right track to assault the 70,000 dollar mark, stumbled momentarily falling back below 67,000 dollars.
During the night it even reached 65,600 dollars during a bear spike, before slightly regaining ground.
In a few hours from the publication of the article, the crypto lost about 4.4% of its value, triggering panic across the entire industry of digital assets.
BREAKING $NEWS: @WSJ ALLEDGELY MANIPULATES #BITCOIN BY PUBLISHING FAKE @TETHER_TO REPORT, CAUSING PRICE TO DROP OVER $2,000 pic.twitter.com/lllxuCnD0v
— blockchaindaily.news (@blckchaindaily) October 25, 2024
During the crash the market volumes increased significantly, highlighting the fear of investors for potential unpleasant situations towards Teher.
Potentially a black swan on the stablecoin USDT could put the entire crypto sector in serious trouble, given the wide spread of the currency.
Here we are not talking about stopping an ongoing rally, but about sinking a series of companies and individuals who use USDT as the main asset for their activities.
Considering a circulating supply of 120 billion dollars, it is easily understood that its failure would have consequences with a catastrophic impact.
In the meantime, the bets on Polymarket seem far from predicting compromising incidents on Tether.
The probabilities of its insolvency by 2024 are quoted at 2%.
Paolo Ardoino denies the rumors at the crypto PlanB event in Lugano
Immediately after the publication of the WSJ article, Paolo Ardoino spoke out to try to restore the positive bull rally of the crypto.
Immediately the CEO of Tether reported on X that there is no evidence of an investigation by the US Department of Justice against his company.
According to the stablecoin magnate, the WSJ allegedly published a serious fake news citing old past stories, already disproven by the facts.
As we told to WSJ there is no indication that Tether is under investigation. WSJ is regurgitating old noise. Full stop.
— Paolo Ardoino 
(@paoloardoino) October 25, 2024
The following day, Paolo Ardoino himself had the opportunity to clarify the matter during the crypto event Plan B in Lugano, in Switzerland.
The CEO of Tether has dismissed the slanders and highlighted the company’s commitment to complying with U.S. regulations.
From 2014 to today, Tether has indeed helped law enforcement recover approximately 109 billion dollars from illicit cyber activities.
Every time USDT is used for criminal purposes, the security personnel of the company “freeze” the accounts of the individuals involved, preventing them from being spent.
Ardoino also recalled that the company is in excellent financial condition, especially after the latest quarterly data.
Tether holds about 100 billion dollars in US Treasury securities, to add to 82,000 Bitcoin and 48 tons of gold.
All this wealth serves to ensure stability to the price of USDT, avoiding potential depeg or unpleasant situations.
The Bitcoin rally is still ongoing
Despite the setbacks recorded over the weekend, Bitcoin and the other cryptos in the sector are still in the midst of a bull price rally.
The main cryptocurrency has already recovered all the points lost after the FUD spread by the WSJ, and is now trading at 68,800 dollars.
At the moment BTC is in a breakout phase with the primary target set at the psychological resistance of 70,000 dollars.
Even the main altcoins like ETH, SOL, and BNB have reacted positively resuming the bull trend of prices.
More specifically, in the last 24 hours we see excellent performance from tokens like OM, NEIRO, AAVE, and RUNE.
According to the data from CoinMarketCap, the trading volumes have increased by 30% compared to yesterday, reflecting the interest of investors.
As reported by Coinglass, the open interest of crypto futures exchanges has risen by 6.26%, amidst the return to optimism.
The price rally, typical during the bull market, is still ongoing and stronger than before.
The excellent way in which Tether emerged from the accusations has given even more strength to the market, which now aims for higher goals.
Despite this, the capitalization of the entire industry has not completely returned to Friday’s values, with a deficit of about 200 billion dollars.
