Biggest Crypto Stablecoin Tether Was Once Backed by Chinese Securities
- Documents show Tether held securities issued by ICBC, CCB
- Tether said in July 2022 it held no Chinese CP at that point
The reserves backing Tether’s stablecoin have long been under scrutiny.
Illustration: Carolina Moscoso
Tether Holdings Ltd. once counted securities issued by Chinese companies among the reserves backing its USDT stablecoin, the world’s largest, documents released by New York’s Attorney General show.
Speculation that Tether had exposure to Chinese commercial paper had followed the stablecoin issuer for years. A Bloomberg investigation published in October 2021 found evidence that Tether’s reserves did in fact include billions of dollars of short-term loans to Chinese companies, as well as a sizable loan to crypto platform Celsius Network. At the time, Tether denied having any exposure to the crisis-hit China Evergrande Group’s debt but declined to say whether it held securities of other Chinese companies or issuers.