Tether Cryptocurrency Becoming ‘Preferred Choice’ Among Money Launderers

[zasad@]

The fud against Tether is very head shaking and it appears it is becoming very clear who might be responsible and where this is coming from. I speculate that this is coming from the American government and with the help of Tether's biggest competitor Circle hehehe. It would not be shocking if the new mayor of bitcoin is helping also.

Caroline Hill of Circle have made their position very clear when she begged the lawmakers in congress to give the treasury department the authority to crackdown on Tether.


Mayor of Bitcoin

In a February 15 Congressional hearing, Caroline Hill, Senior Director for Global Policy and Regulatory Strategy at Circle, has called on Congress to grant the Treasury Department the authority to go after Tether and its banking partner Cantor Fitzgerald. Hill said that the US Treasury Department should have the authority to take action given “Tether’s reputation” as well as available data that “they are contributing to terrorist financing and other malign activities.”

Read in full https://www.blockzeit.com/circles-caroline-hill-asks-congress-to-go-after-tether/

The capitalization of Tether USDT is currently about 98 billion dollars. I think it’s too early to call them terrorists.
Tether is backed by American bonds, meaning they have already given most of their money to the American economy, and for this they received an unofficial work permit. When Tether's capitalization reaches several trillion dollars, they can be called terrorists and their assets as collateral taken away.

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. It would certainly be head scratching to call Tether terrorists because they are not terrorists. If the terrorists use American dollars, are the issuers of the dollar terrorists? If the terrorists used a certain brand of cell phone to activate their bombs, is the cell phone company a terrorist?

In any case, what are you implying on Tether's capitalization and being called a terrorist? Is the when the American government waits for a company to reach a certain size before the takedown hehehehe.

[zasad@]

@zasad@. It would certainly be head scratching to call Tether terrorists because they are not terrorists. If the terrorists use American dollars, are the issuers of the dollar terrorists? If the terrorists used a certain brand of cell phone to activate their bombs, is the cell phone company a terrorist?

In any case, what are you implying on Tether's capitalization and being called a terrorist? Is the when the American government waits for a company to reach a certain size before the takedown hehehehe.

I understand the problem, I think in Russian and write in English, and over many years I have become convinced that Russian-speaking and English-speaking people have completely different logic.
Read our conversation with stompix
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5439961.120
CZ and Binance are not terrorists, but they can easily be accused of this and this can even be proven in court.
After my last argument, our dialogue ended.

There are 2 major stablecoin issuers in the world: Circle and Tether.
Coinbase owns shares of Circle, Coinbase has very close ties to Blackrock and other large American banks and they have their own interests.
And Tether is an extra company in this market, which is not under US jurisdiction.

There is nothing personal here, this is a business where the main goal is to defeat competitors.
Tether may be accused of having links to terrorist financing. And then all its assets in the United States will be frozen or confiscated, and the stablecoin may lose its peg to the dollar. The trial will take a long time, and during this time the company will go bankrupt and lose its reputation in the market.

And it is more profitable for the US government to block more assets, so it is more profitable for them to have a larger capitalization of Tether.
Another interesting fact was told to me by an international lawyer that USDT is very popular in Russia (I fully confirm this), Asia, and Europe, and USDC is popular in the USA.
If I were the United States, I would ruin Tether, causing a big loss to competitors from other countries and adding hundreds of billions to my budget, completely legally

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. I very much disagree that CZ and Binance can easily be declared as terrorists and can also easily be proven in court. That is a very head shaking argument.

In any case, if it was easy and if sentenced in court as terrorists, this would certainly create a very dangerous precedent on who else will easily be proven as terrorists in court. Everyone can and will easily a terrorist including car companies, mobile phone companies, banks and many other companies' products and service that were used by terrorists and drug cartels would be under investigation.

[zasad@]

@zasad@. I very much disagree that CZ and Binance can easily be declared as terrorists and can also easily be proven in court. That is a very head shaking argument.

In any case, if it was easy and if sentenced in court as terrorists, this would certainly create a very dangerous precedent on who else will easily be proven as terrorists in court. Everyone can and will easily a terrorist including car companies, mobile phone companies, banks and many other companies' products and service that were used by terrorists and drug cartels would be under investigation.

What do you think of this argument?
This is very easily done by the wrong hands in order to get a reason to impose sanctions on any company or even country.

https://abc7chicago.com/israel-hostages-binance-crypto/14378652/
The lawsuit accused Binance of processing numerous transactions for Hamas between 2017 and 2023, "providing a clandestine financing tool that Binance deliberately hid from U.S. regulators."

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. If the information is true and if proven that CZ knows this or if he is directly involved on these occurrences on Binance then he can be sentenced for assisting terrorist groups on moving funds. However, the argument I was making is different. I am arguing more about the stablecoins being illegaly used for crime and terrorism or if an exchange CEO can be charged for terrorism if he has no knowledge of these occurrences.

Will Tether and Circle be complicit if terrorists uses USDT and USDC to move their money? Would it make the issuer of the dollar complicit if they used American dollars? Will Apple be complicit if they used iphones for terrorism?

[BlackBoss_]

I read about this few days ago, but to back that, Chainanalysis has released their own 2024 crypto crime report and it states that stablecoins are used more for illicit transactions. USDT is the most traded stablecoins and it will have the highest traded in volume, also for illicit transactions.

You can see how stablecoins are taking it from bitcoin year after the other

If stable coins are used for money laundering, I am sure criminals will more favorite to use Tether USD than other stable coins because it is a biggest stable coin.

Tether USD marketcap is $97B and a second biggest stable coin is USDC has only $28B in marketcap. The third biggest stable coin is DAI with only $5B in marketcap. These numbers show domination of Tether USD in stablecoin area.

https://coinmarketcap.com/view/stablecoin/

Tether like other stable coins, can be froze in your wallets.
PSA: Most Stablecoins Can Be Frozen, Even in Your Own Wallets
USDT banned addresses.

[bbc.reporter]

@BlackBoss_. Criminals will certainly use all stablecoins with differenent amounts that will depend on liquidity. Why would they take the risk of using only one stablecoin? Unless they are stupid, they should use all the available tokens with high volume and usage to hide their activities.

These comments on criminals will use only Tether is very headshaking and this implies many people have not more strongly thought about this.

[zasad@]

@zasad@. If the information is true and if proven that CZ knows this or if he is directly involved on these occurrences on Binance then he can be sentenced for assisting terrorist groups on moving funds. However, the argument I was making is different. I am arguing more about the stablecoins being illegaly used for crime and terrorism or if an exchange CEO can be charged for terrorism if he has no knowledge of these occurrences.

Will Tether and Circle be complicit if terrorists uses USDT and USDC to move their money? Would it make the issuer of the dollar complicit if they used American dollars? Will Apple be complicit if they used iphones for terrorism?

I have already said that you and I think differently. You are right that in order to charge CZ it will be necessary to prove that he knew that his exchange was being used for illegal purposes.

I give a past famous example of SBF and Caroline Ellison

Caroline Ellison, the 28-year-old star witness in one of the most closely watched fraud trials in US history, took the stand Tuesday to testify against her former business partner and sometimes-boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/10/business/caroline-ellison-testimony-preview/index.html

Look how quickly concepts are replaced, not a fraudster but a star witness

Now back to the harsh reality in which CZ and his team broke a lot of laws. So, for the prosecution, you need to find several weak links in his team, who will become a star witness instead of the accused and will not be prosecuted.
And these star witnesses will tell everything the prosecutors need, including that CZ knew that he was providing services to terrorist organizations.

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. If the information is true and if proven that CZ knows this or if he is directly involved on these occurrences on Binance then he can be sentenced for assisting terrorist groups on moving funds. However, the argument I was making is different. I am arguing more about the stablecoins being illegaly used for crime and terrorism or if an exchange CEO can be charged for terrorism if he has no knowledge of these occurrences.

Will Tether and Circle be complicit if terrorists uses USDT and USDC to move their money? Would it make the issuer of the dollar complicit if they used American dollars? Will Apple be complicit if they used iphones for terrorism?

I have already said that you and I think differently. You are right that in order to charge CZ it will be necessary to prove that he knew that his exchange was being used for illegal purposes.

I give a past famous example of SBF and Caroline Ellison

Caroline Ellison, the 28-year-old star witness in one of the most closely watched fraud trials in US history, took the stand Tuesday to testify against her former business partner and sometimes-boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/10/business/caroline-ellison-testimony-preview/index.html

Look how quickly concepts are replaced, not a fraudster but a star witness

Now back to the harsh reality in which CZ and his team broke a lot of laws. So, for the prosecution, you need to find several weak links in his team, who will become a star witness instead of the accused and will not be prosecuted.
And these star witnesses will tell everything the prosecutors need, including that CZ knew that he was providing services to terrorist organizations.

It appears that we are arguing about different situations. If the American government will use everything in their playbook to make anyone a terrorist, a rapist, a thief or any type of criminal then I agree with the argument.

However, on the present situation on the case against CZ, I reckon it has been settled already. He will pay the American government $4 billion and resign as CEO. His sentence might be a few years in prison without any charges of being a terrorist. This decision has also caused the American government to stop cracking down on Binance.

[zasad@]

..snip

Are you really saying this so easily or is it just me?
In my opinion, CZ has already paid a very high price and his fate has not yet been decided.
There is no point in putting CZ in jail if he paid a large fine and signed all the agreements with the US government.

[bbc.reporter]

..snip

Are you really saying this so easily or is it just me?
In my opinion, CZ has already paid a very high price and his fate has not yet been decided.
There is no point in putting CZ in jail if he paid a large fine and signed all the agreements with the US government.

I was only speculating and I speculate that CZ's payment in exchange for a short time in prison for some charges but no charges of being a terrorist might have been part of the deal in the settlement. Also, you tell me that I can say this easily, however, you say that the American government would easily make CZ a terrorist without due process. I reckon it would be more difficult for CZ and the government if they went to court for this.

[zasad@]

..snip

Are you really saying this so easily or is it just me?
In my opinion, CZ has already paid a very high price and his fate has not yet been decided.
There is no point in putting CZ in jail if he paid a large fine and signed all the agreements with the US government.

I was only speculating and I speculate that CZ's payment in exchange for a short time in prison for some charges but no charges of being a terrorist might have been part of the deal in the settlement. Also, you tell me that I can say this easily, however, you say that the American government would easily make CZ a terrorist without due process. I reckon it would be more difficult for CZ and the government if they went to court for this.

Personally, I have no doubt that CZ violated many American laws and would have no chance of winning in court. But if you use all due process against CZ, you'll have a lot of dirty laundry to unearth, and the US government probably isn't interested. The latest major cryptocurrency cases tell us that the US government makes deals with lawbreakers if they pay huge fines.

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. Agreed! The dirty laundry also from the side of the banking system in America and how the American government only gave them a slap on the wrist. I speculate that it was only CZ that wanted to fight the case under American jurisdiction, however, his team might have expressed against this decision to save Binance and the cryptospace from another dump. This meme is real hehehehe.



A congressional investigation into the 2016 U.S. presidential election has unearthed evidence that major banks processed $2 trillion in transactions despite suspecting they were connected to illegal activity.

So-called suspicious activity reports, filed by banks with government regulators, indicate the banks were concerned the transactions would help suspected terrorists, drug dealers, corrupt foreign officials and other bad actors move trillions of dollars around the world, as well as perpetuate investment frauds. The private reports, which covered 1999 through 2017, were obtained by BuzzFeed News and shared with the nonprofit International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

In its report, BuzzFeed said the documents show "how the giants of Western banking move trillions of dollars in suspicious transactions, enriching themselves and their shareholders while facilitating the work of terrorists, kleptocrats and drug kingpins."

Source https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bank-scandal-2020-2-trillion-transaction-suspected-illegal-activity-money-laundering/



Why are the people responsible not in jail like CZ? No political connections in America.

In any case, I reckon if Sam supported CZ with his political connections, CZ would not have caused the liquidity problem within FTX because of CZ's dump of all FTT in Binance's treasury.

I am only assuming that FTX's problem was only a liquidity problem because the creditors of FTX will be paid 100% of their money according to some articles.

[zasad@]

bbc.peпopтep,If you look at it very pragmatically, you can steal 10 billion, but only pay a fine of 5 billion. Then you are a successful businessman. Below you will find how to use the remaining money more legally and safely.
CZ has vast invaluable experience and political connections that are very valuable.

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. On CZ's political connections, if he has them, they are not in America. It was Sam Bankman Fried who had the connections with the Democrats because of his donations and her mother who is rumored to be very close to Hillary Clinton.

Also, before the dump of FTT by CZ, Sam was also jeering CZ on social media because he did not any political connections in America. This was when Sam was invited in congress to speak about regulations and the cryptospace. It was also during this time when Sam was bad mouthing CZ in front of the regulators and other government officials.



The Justice Department was investigating his crypto exchange, Binance, for possible money laundering. And he suspected that Sam Bankman-Fried, the cofounder of another crypto exchange, FTX, had been spreading rumors about Binance with US regulators and the media.

“It’s just not a smart thing to do, to bad-mouth anybody. Especially a bigger competitor,” CZ told me recently.

Source https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/09/binance-founder-cz-says-sbfs-decision-to-bad-mouth-him-to-us-authorities-was-not-smart

[zasad@]

bbc.peпopтep, CZ turned out to be much smarter that he got rid of FTT and Sam in time.
If CZ gets off with just a fine or gets a short prison sentence in the best US prison, where he will live better than the citizens of this country, then he has the necessary connections.

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. I disagree. CZ had a settlement with the American government and paid $4 billion and yet he cannot get out of the country because he is a flight risk? If he had proper connections he would remain to be the CEO of Binance. Also, dumping of FTT might be CZ's tactic to kill FTX. If he did not do this, FTX would continue becoming bigger and Sam with his political connections would become more powerful.

If you also want to witness political connections in use, observe Sam Bankman Fried's case. It is being rumored that he will get out of prison within 5 or 6 months.

[zasad@]

@zasad@. I disagree. CZ had a settlement with the American government and paid $4 billion and yet he cannot get out of the country because he is a flight risk? If he had proper connections he would remain to be the CEO of Binance. Also, dumping of FTT might be CZ's tactic to kill FTX. If he did not do this, FTX would continue becoming bigger and Sam with his political connections would become more powerful.

If you also want to witness political connections in use, observe Sam Bankman Fried's case. It is being rumored that he will get out of prison within 5 or 6 months.

I don’t believe the rumors and there are a lot of victims in the SBF case, so even if he is released from prison under house arrest, he will still spend many years in the courts.
CZ is as cunning as SBF and he realized what SBF and his team were doing and decided to kill two birds with one stone.

[bbc.reporter]

@zasad@. I disagree.  SBF had a settlement with the American government and paid $4 billion and yet he cannot get out of the country because he is a flight risk? If he had proper connections he would remain to be the CEO of Binance. Also, dumping of FTT might be CZ's tactic to kill FTX. If he did not do this, FTX would continue becoming bigger and Sam with his political connections would become more powerful.

If you also want to witness political connections in use, observe Sam Bankman Fried's case. It is being rumored that he will get out of prison within 5 or 6 months.

I don’t believe the rumors and there are a lot of victims in the SBF case, so even if he is released from prison under house arrest, he will still spend many years in the courts.
CZ is as cunning as SBF and he realized what SBF and his team were doing and decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Why did you change the quote from CZ to SBF? I said it was CZ who paid the American government $4 billion to settle his case, however, after settlement it does not appear to be settled hehehe. CZ's passport was confiscated and he has a sentencing to attend. This is a person who clearly does not have any political connections under the American jurisdiction.

In any case, I agree that CZ needed to dump FTT to kill FTX. If he did not do this, Sam would become more powerful and he would have certainly killed Binance using his exchange as competition and his political connections. According to the latest articles it appears that the FTX estate can pay all of the creditors in full which implies that FTX's problems were only liquidity and cashflow problems.