Tether Refused To Pay The 500 BTC Ransom Demand: Report

Tether refused to pay the 500 BTC ransom demand worth $24 million and the stablecoin issuer said that it has no intention of paying the ransom with the deadline has already passed so let’s read more in our latest Tether news.

Tether received a ransom request for 500 BTC at the end of February and the deadline passed today with the stablecoin issuer claiming to not have paid. The company was subject to a 500 Bitcoin ransom demand but refused to pay and let the deadline pass according to a Twitter thread today. The ransom demand was set to the company and the person behind it threatened the company with releasing harmful documents that could hurt the BTC Ecosystem if the ransom wasn’t paid. The stablecoin issuer publicly wrote “We are not paying” and the tweet even contained the ransom sender’s blockchain address which means Tether refused to pay.

PSA: Forged documents are circulating online purporting to be between @tether_to personnel and reps of Deltec Bank & Trust and others. The documents are bogus. 1/5

— Tether (@Tether_to) February 28, 2021

The stablecoin issuer said it was not sure whether this is an attempt at basic extortion or it was an attempt to harm Tether and the crypto community:

 “Either way, those seeking to harm Tether are getting increasingly desperate.”

The company alerted the law enforcement since then about the extortion attempt and stated that it will offer full support for the investigation behind the ransom attack. However, the ransom demand was not the only issue that Tether encountered last week as the NYAG demanded Tether to stop trading in New York and to pay a fine of $18.5 million according to Attorney General Letitia James:

 “Bitfinex and Tether recklessly and unlawfully covered-up massive financial losses to keep their scheme going and protect their bottom lines.”

Furthermore, Tether will have to start providing regular reports on the business functions and will have to provide clear details on the funds that it holds as reserves. The company has to provide public disclosure of the assets backing Tether like loans from other entities. Previously, Bitfinex’s general counsel Stuart Hoegner said that the reserves of the company could include among other assets, time deposits, treasury bills, reverse repos, and commercial paper. However, the company refused to comment on the amount of each component in the reserves.

Tether is still the company that issues the most widely-used stablecoin USDT and today it revealed that it got a ransom demand, as reported earlier today.