Tether Confirms Extensive Collaboration With DOJ, FBI and Secret Service

[Hazink]

Is this the right place for this?

Another reason people should stop using tether (USDT), which is among the most stable coins we have in the crypto market right now, and it ranks in the top 3 according to coin . marketcap  
 
I just happened to stumble upon this news.

Tether recently onboarded the United States Secret Service into our platform and is in the process of doing the same with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Reference page: Bitcoin.comnews

Just a quick reminder for those making use of Tether for large transactions. Just so you know, there is nothing much different between it and using normal fiat, as your funds can be frozen and you can't do anything. The blacklisting mapping gives them access to freeze the funds of anyone whom they think is not worthy of whatever they are holding in that wallet.
 
just a few weeks ago: Tether Freezes $225M Linked to Human Trafficking Syndicate Amid DOJ Investigatio
 
But does the Fed even need a reason to freeze anyone's wallet nowadays? To me, they don't; they just make a reason and pronounce anything they want illegal, and that's it.
 
For security reasons and for asset safety I will advice if we must use stable coins which should consider those ones which we have total control over them and not just the ones that have frozen feature enabled on them.

Made a quick search and I came across this:  List of decentralized Stablecoins by d5000 , the Op is very much active but the thread was last updated same year if it’s creation {May 30, 2018}

[hd49728]

Not only Tether, all other smart contract stable coins are centralized and they can be seized even you hold it in your own wallets.

PSA: Most Stablecoins Can Be Frozen, Even in Your Own Wallets
Stable coins and banned addresses

Tether banned addresses.
https://dune.com/phabc/usdt---banned-addresses
1237 banned addresses with total value is $849M.

USDC banned addresses.
https://dune.com/phabc/usdc-banned-addresses
211 banned addresses with total value is $75.6M.

[Fiatless]

Just a quick reminder for those making use of Tether for large transactions. Just so you know, there is nothing much different between it and using normal fiat, as your funds can be frozen and you can't do anything. The blacklisting mapping gives them access to freeze the funds of anyone whom they think is not worthy of whatever they are holding in that wallet.

Anybody using centralised platforms has decided to give away their privacy, security and custody of their funds. The government can give any reason to freeze your funds and you might do little or nothing to get back your funds. Apart from government intervention in the operations of the activities of these stablecoin, some of these stablecoin issuers are not trustworthy. The claim that these coins are backed by fiat, cryptocurrencies or commodities cannot be verified because their audit reports are doctored or some vital information is kept secret. So users of stablecoins are also risking losing their funds bankruptcy caused by the unhealthy practices of these stablecoin issuers.

[PrivacyG]

Who would have thought, no?

I find it concerning how some people transfer significant amounts of money through Stable Coins and they do not even know their funds can be frozen.  But at the end of the day the real Bitcoiners will not even contemplate holding Stable Coins at all ever in their Cryptocurrency timeline.  So if you care about being non custodial and having complete control over your assets, please do not use Stable Coins.  They are a continuous risk.

[Coyster]

Just a quick reminder for those making use of Tether for large transactions. Just so you know, there is nothing much different between it and using normal fiat, as your funds can be frozen and you can't do anything. The blacklisting mapping gives them access to freeze the funds of anyone whom they think is not worthy of whatever they are holding in that wallet.

It has always been possible for stable coin issuers to freeze your coins, now quite a lot of people think this can only happen when your stable coin is held in a centralized exchange, but mind you that your stable coins can be frozen even if your own wallet.

Tether collaborating with the DOJ, secret service and the FBI should not come as a surprise to anyone, they are a centralized service and centralized services cooperate with law enforcement, they have also never presented themselves as a privacy coin or anything of that sort, thus it is up to users to decide what they want for themselves.

[sokani]

The collaboration with the United states 3 lettered agencies is really paying off as an approximate of 326 wallets with 435 million dollars have been frozen so far. This is a massive seizure from the government but it's doesn't come to me as a surprise because Tether is centralized and they can easily track and freeze one's fund. This is another reason to reconsider when hodling a centralized stablecoin and I'd rather opt for the decentralized ones like DAI and the likes that are not under any form of censorship.

[Nwada001]

Many people come to crypto with the full belief that everything that's called cryptocurrency is entirely decentralised and privacy protected, which is where they all got it wrong. This is the reason why most people still find it shocking to fall into the trap of their token being frozen in their own wallet and all of that.
 
Before this recent happening with Tether and other stable coins, there have already been numerous altcoins that people buy and hold on to their wallets without knowing that they are not completely in control of the token. The developers wake up someday and reduce the amount they hold, freeze the wallet they want to freeze, and all of that.
 
Anyone who wants full privacy should go for coins like bitcoin and monero, which are the two that I know for now for their high privacy rates. And what's the point of holding USDT, by the way, when you can just better hold your fiat currency in your local bank account?. 
 
Stablecoins are one of the highest scams we have in the crypto industry. The pegging is why they use it to deceive investors when they don't know what's truly behind the wheel. It can be depegged anytime if anything positive happens to the company. Let's take a good look at UST (the Luna Lab stable coin). It's now one of the meme coins being traded on Binance, and such can happen to any of the stablecoins any day.

[mk4]

Surprise, I guess? Tether is a centralized company — it's pretty much guaranteed for them to partner with 3-letter agencies. In fact, it's also guaranteed for these 3-letter agencies to be working with them even if they like it or not.

[dkbit98]

I just happened to stumble upon this news.

Tether recently onboarded the United States Secret Service into our platform and is in the process of doing the same with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Reference page: Bitcoin.comnews

I didn't know about this news, but I can't say that I am surprised at all.
It was probably either that or shutdown for them, and they decide to bend and allow full access and tracking.
Maybe this is perfect time to work more on some alternative stable coin solution that has private transactions, something like blockstream confidential transactions but better.
Another option is bitcoin based project on lightning network called stablesats.com.
 

Made a quick search and I came across this:  List of decentralized Stablecoins by d5000 , the Op is very much active but the thread was last updated same year if it’s creation {May 30, 2018}

This is outdated list and most of this coins are worthless junk with zero volume, so they are unusable.

[Gormicsta]

That's a total disaster and against the number one feature of crypto and that's decentralization. They could have partnered or collaborated with other companies or agencies but definitely not the law enforcement agencies or any organization directly partnering with the government because these people don't like the whole idea of decentralization in crypto and all they want is either to gain control of crypto or bring it down if they can't.

I know that Tether is somehow tied to US Dollar but it's still  crypto and shouldn't be controlled or regulated by anyone, especially not the government. Well then let's see what comes out of this alliance.

[Coyster]

That's a total disaster and against the number one feature of crypto and that's decentralization.

It is not every cryptocurrency that is decentralized, so many of us believe that Bitcoin is the only true decentralized cryptocurrency. USDT is a centralized stable coin issued by the company Tether, it is not decentralized.

I know that Tether is somehow tied to US Dollar but it's still  crypto and shouldn't be controlled or regulated by anyone, especially not the government. Well then let's see what comes out of this alliance.

USDT is pegged to the dollar, and it is controlled by the issuing company, it is a centralized coin and if you use it you have to understand that this was always possible, the only thing is that they are now in full cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

[Lida93]

I know that Tether is somehow tied to US Dollar but it's still  crypto and shouldn't be controlled or regulated by anyone, especially not the government. Well then let's see what comes out of this alliance.

USDT is pegged to the dollar, and it is controlled by the issuing company, it is a centralized coin and if you use it you have to understand that this was always possible, the only thing is that they are now in full cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

I kind of hate to say this but as a price stable cryptocurrency the reason why we have many people still making use of Tether USDT despite it been centralized is by virtue of it's custodian trust the users have on it when compared to other pegged cryptocurrency (decentralized or centralized) and being pegged to the US dollar a fiat currency that is strong in strength to other fiats and serving as reserve currency of many countries globally.

But centralized institutions will forever behave as centralized institutions breaking you when you least expected it in as much as their interest has to be intact by whatever means necessary.

[Lucius]

Is this the right place for this?
~snip~

I don't think so, after all, it is about something that is in the altcoins zone, but to some extent it makes sense for beginners to be warned and familiarized with some things when it comes to stablecoins.


I have written several times on the forum that this stablecoin (as well as most others) have meaning and fulfill their purpose for all those who are active crypto traders, but on the other hand I would describe them as a perfect Trojan horse that the authorities can at any moment activate and freeze the so-called stablecoins and thus cause a panic of unprecedented proportions.

It is clearly visible from everything that can be read over the years that the authorities (especially in the EU) see a far greater threat in stablecoins than in Bitcoin. Due to everything I have already written and the fact that there are always doubts whether stablecoins are really backed in a 1:1 ratio with fiat currencies, I believe that there is a huge room for manipulation and that a significant percentage of all stablecoins are actually not backed by anything.

[cryptoaddictchie]

Who would have thought, no?

I find it concerning how some people transfer significant amounts of money through Stable Coins and they do not even know their funds can be frozen. 

Well they probably traders who eanted to use usdt to trade other altcoins on exchange. Apparently the fact that they traded it means they are aware of it. No big guys who has a lot of stablecoin isnt aware about the news here about stablecoin and if chances that they dont really know it is quite near to impossible. They are probably risking it seeing that usdt can work well on their end.

[Coyster]

I kind of hate to say this but as a price stable cryptocurrency the reason why we have many people still making use of Tether USDT despite it been centralized is by virtue of it's custodian trust the users have on it when compared to other pegged cryptocurrency (decentralized or centralized) and being pegged to the US dollar a fiat currency that is strong in strength to other fiats and serving as reserve currency of many countries globally.

Tether might claim that every issued USDT coin is backed 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, but the thing is, how true can that be; that is the big risk with stable coins, after the possibility of them being frozen in your own wallet. The companies that issue these coins can print so many of them basically out of thin air, not backed by anything, is there a way to prove for a fact that Tether has reserves to cover all circulating USDT coins. If you are hodling USDT because you believe what their issuing company says, then you have to think again on the risk you are undertaking.

[arabspaceship123]

They didn't show balance sheets so we shouldn't believe it. I don't know if they're saying the truth but it's gambling to hodl USDT if they're able to freeze your money which's in your wallet that doesn't make centralised coins target for investment.

 

Tether might claim that every issued USDT coin is backed 1:1 to the U.S. dollar, but the thing is, how true can that be; that is the big risk with stable coins, after the possibility of them being frozen in your own wallet. The companies that issue these coins can print so many of them basically out of thin air, not backed by anything, is there a way to prove for a fact that Tether has reserves to cover all circulating USDT coins. If you are hodling USDT because you believe what their issuing company says, then you have to think again on the risk you are undertaking.

[Darker45]

They didn't show balance sheets so we shouldn't believe it. I don't know if they're saying the truth but it's gambling to hodl USDT if they're able to freeze your money which's in your wallet that doesn't make centralised coins target for investment.

Tether has actually released audit reports. Just last month, it has released its 4th quarter report. They reported billions in profit. Accordingly, there is even an excess in cash reserves. This was done by an independent auditing firm. As to whether we trust it or not, it would be up to us.

Anyway, who would hodl USDT? USDT may be a good coin for traders as it provides them a stable option and it represents fiat, which is not available in many trading platforms, but it isn't a coin worth hodling. If you want to hodl USDT, you better hodl real USD. USD in cash is much better than USDT.

[BlackBoss_]

Tether is a centralized company and with smart contract of Tether USD (USDT), they can seize USDT in any address.

PSA: Most Stablecoins Can Be Frozen, Even in Your Own Wallets
Stable coin and black list.

There are many banned addresses from Tether. 1,275 banned addresses with total USDT in those banned addresses is 952,204,533 USDT
https://duneanalytics.com/phabc/usdt---banned-addresses

[pinggoki]

But does the Fed even need a reason to freeze anyone's wallet nowadays? To me, they don't; they just make a reason and pronounce anything they want illegal, and that's it.

They're the authorities and at the same time you've been using Tether for you crypto stuff which is a really bad idea which means that you're sort of consenting to the potential that they might freeze your account. You've said it yourself to not use those stuff for things and I think that if there's a reasonable doubt when it comes to things that involve something big like human trafficking, I don't think that it's any good that we let those money flow freely. As much as I hate that they're cooperating with these branches of the Federal Government, I think that it's not a bad thing that they're in it especially for things like this and we've all surrendered our privacy long ago already, didn't we dismissed what Snowden has exposed when he was working for NSA? So why are we still hesitant to this kind of things?

[Husires]

I fear that a day will come when tether (USDT) blocks, freezes, or sends tokens from user wallets for tax purposes or even in response to a fraudulent request. Then it will turn to intermediary services like PayPal, which rely on bank accounts and comply with all legislation. tether (USDT) is more risky than using cash, as cash is more difficult to track and has a lower probability of freezing than USDT, which is highly centralized and its price can fall below $1.