Tether Cryptocurrency Becoming ‘Preferred Choice’ Among Money Launderers

[zasad@]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/01/15/tether-cryptocurrency-becoming-preferred-choice-among-money-launderers-and-scammers-un-warns/?sh=553fd7ef6385
Tether Cryptocurrency Becoming ‘Preferred Choice’ Among Money Launderers And Scammers, UN Warns
"Tether, one of the world’s most traded cryptocurrencies, has become a key tool for criminals, money launderers and scammers, according to a United Nations report published Monday, amid intensifying legal and regulatory scrutiny over how digital assets are being used to aid illicit activity."
__
A new attack on Tether has begun anew across many major news resources.

[Oshosondy]

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

[avikz]

That's quite surprising! USDT is a centralized cryptocurrency where the issuers have the power to block any transactions or wallets. They have done it multiple times before and they can do it again. So it's surprising to see that a centralized crypto is being used for illicit transactions. Ideally cryptos like XMR are supposed to be used for such transactions the way it happens in the black markets. Is USDT knowingly allowing such transactions to happen using their network?

[zasad@]

That's quite surprising! USDT is a centralized cryptocurrency where the issuers have the power to block any transactions or wallets. They have done it multiple times before and they can do it again. So it's surprising to see that a centralized crypto is being used for illicit transactions. Ideally cryptos like XMR are supposed to be used for such transactions the way it happens in the black markets. Is USDT knowingly allowing such transactions to happen using their network?

I wanted to say this too. If Tether is used in a crime, why aren't the coins frozen?
Tether cooperates with all law enforcement agencies

https://getblock.net/en/news/tether-has-filed-applications-with-rospatent-for-trademark-registration
"Tether has applied to the Federal Intellectual Property Service of the Russian Federation for trademark registration. The company intends to register four product names: ALLOY BY TETHER, AUSDT, TETHER ALLOY, and TETHER USDT, RBC reports with reference to the Rospatent bulletin."

[pakhitheboss]

That's quite surprising! USDT is a centralized cryptocurrency where the issuers have the power to block any transactions or wallets. They have done it multiple times before and they can do it again. So it's surprising to see that a centralized crypto is being used for illicit transactions. Ideally cryptos like XMR are supposed to be used for such transactions the way it happens in the black markets. Is USDT knowingly allowing such transactions to happen using their network?

XMR is not stable and is not pegged to the global currency which is USD that is why USDT is being used for illicit activities. Tether can freeze USDT only when authorities report it. Without any reporting, they don't freeze USDT and those criminals who are into money laundering are not some small-time thugs. They know that Tether provides greater anonymity than Fiat, has far lesser transaction fees than Fiat, and is easy to use. As the UN is the mouthpiece of five countries I am assuming money laundering using USDT has grown in those five countries. Globally USD is still a preferred way of laundering money and financing terrorism.

[Jawhead999]

I think they're not aware about centralization, so they choose the popular or highest volume stable coin. Now why SEC or OFAC didn't sue USDT for being irresponsible?

It's always "Bitcoin" as the victim when it comes to anything that illegal.

XMR is not stable and is not pegged to the global currency which is USD that is why USDT is being used for illicit activities. Tether can freeze USDT only when authorities report it.

They should use DAI instead.

[hugeblack]

XMR is not stable and is not pegged to the global currency which is USD that is why USDT is being used for illicit activities. Tether can freeze USDT only when authorities report it. Without any reporting, they don't freeze USDT and those criminals who are into money laundering are not some small-time thugs.

It is true that Tether does not freeze an address without a report from the authorities, but they can that. If I were a person who wanted to use the money for illegal activities, I would be careful not to possess large amounts of USDT, or at least transfer it as quickly as possible before it is frozen or^[1].
In general, I do not expect Tether to take measures against regulations. As Tether works, it is easy to impose measures on it, such as forcing users to perform identity verification or forcing users to send to a specific address. These deposits cannot be accepted until after AML procedures


[1]

They should use DAI instead.

[zasad@]

I think they're not aware about centralization, so they choose the popular or highest volume stable coin. Now why SEC or OFAC didn't sue USDT for being irresponsible?

It's always "Bitcoin" as the victim when it comes to anything that illegal.

XMR is not stable and is not pegged to the global currency which is USD that is why USDT is being used for illicit activities. Tether can freeze USDT only when authorities report it.

They should use DAI instead.

DAI is free from blocking, but criminals use USDT because they are aware of the complex procedures that the police must follow to get USDT blocked. And as a rule, these tokens can change several addresses, the winner will be the lucky one who sends the tokens to a centralized crypto exchange and receives a block.

[hugeblack]

DAI is free from blocking, but criminals use USDT because they are aware of the complex procedures that the police must follow to get USDT blocked. And as a rule, these tokens can change several addresses, the winner will be the lucky one who sends the tokens to a centralized crypto exchange and receives a block.

It is true, but if they can freeze the account due to authorities report, then if regulatory pressure increases, they will do so through administrative decisions, then reports from the local police. Tether relies primarily on its bank accounts to maintain the stability of the currency, and a single decision can threaten its existence if the authorities decide to freeze their bank accounts Or impose restrictions on treasury bonds that are used to support currency stability.

DAI has wider options in the event that pressure is imposed on it.

[pakhitheboss]

DAI is free from blocking, but criminals use USDT because they are aware of the complex procedures that the police must follow to get USDT blocked. And as a rule, these tokens can change several addresses, the winner will be the lucky one who sends the tokens to a centralized crypto exchange and receives a block.

It is true, but if they can freeze the account due to authorities report, then if regulatory pressure increases, they will do so through administrative decisions, then reports from the local police. Tether relies primarily on its bank accounts to maintain the stability of the currency, and a single decision can threaten its existence if the authorities decide to freeze their bank accounts Or impose restrictions on treasury bonds that are used to support currency stability.

DAI has wider options in the event that pressure is imposed on it.

I agree with both of you that DAI should be preferred over USDT by those who participate in money laundering. But, the question is how is DAI pegged and how is USDT pegged? Criminals want USD and not a stable coin which is not pegged 1:1 with USDT. That can be one of the reasons why they do not go for DAI and the other issue could be converting DAI to USD as USDT is available for conversion on most P2P exchanges whereas DAI is not. Another thing that came to my mind is that these are criminals who are not interested in understanding the concept of DAI. Their perception of USDT as it was the first stablecoin is that it is backed by USD and it might be the only way these criminal organizations deal in cryptocurrency.

[zasad@]

DAI is free from blocking, but criminals use USDT because they are aware of the complex procedures that the police must follow to get USDT blocked. And as a rule, these tokens can change several addresses, the winner will be the lucky one who sends the tokens to a centralized crypto exchange and receives a block.

It is true, but if they can freeze the account due to authorities report, then if regulatory pressure increases, they will do so through administrative decisions, then reports from the local police. Tether relies primarily on its bank accounts to maintain the stability of the currency, and a single decision can threaten its existence if the authorities decide to freeze their bank accounts Or impose restrictions on treasury bonds that are used to support currency stability.

DAI has wider options in the event that pressure is imposed on it.

I agree with both of you that DAI should be preferred over USDT by those who participate in money laundering. But, the question is how is DAI pegged and how is USDT pegged? Criminals want USD and not a stable coin which is not pegged 1:1 with USDT. That can be one of the reasons why they do not go for DAI and the other issue could be converting DAI to USD as USDT is available for conversion on most P2P exchanges whereas DAI is not. Another thing that came to my mind is that these are criminals who are not interested in understanding the concept of DAI. Their perception of USDT as it was the first stablecoin is that it is backed by USD and it might be the only way these criminal organizations deal in cryptocurrency.

DAI has huge liquidity for exchange for the most popular stablecoins USDT and USDC
https://app.uniswap.org/tokens/ethereum/0x6b175474e89094c44da98b954eedeac495271d0f
DAI is backed by a large amount of USDC
If the tokens are criminal, then a loss of 1-2% on the exchange will not be critical, because cashing out costs much more.

[pakhitheboss]

DAI has huge liquidity for exchange for the most popular stablecoins USDT and USDC
https://app.uniswap.org/tokens/ethereum/0x6b175474e89094c44da98b954eedeac495271d0f
DAI is backed by a large amount of USDC
If the tokens are criminal, then a loss of 1-2% on the exchange will not be critical, because cashing out costs much more.

I understand and I agree to what you are saying but what about the perception. Criminals know that USDT is pegged to USD, would they dug deep to find about DAI. No, they will not as once an order of payment is set in the criminal world they rarely shift to any other mode unless, they get scrutinized by the authorities. I agree that Tether can be frozen, by the time it gets frozen as the government is involved the amount gets shifted to another wallet and gets cashed out. It is still a convenient way to operate in countries that have local exchanges as it is acceptable in most countries in their local exchanges. The point is to get USD pegged currency, convert it to local currency and utilise it for illegal activities.

[zasad@]

DAI has huge liquidity for exchange for the most popular stablecoins USDT and USDC
https://app.uniswap.org/tokens/ethereum/0x6b175474e89094c44da98b954eedeac495271d0f
DAI is backed by a large amount of USDC
If the tokens are criminal, then a loss of 1-2% on the exchange will not be critical, because cashing out costs much more.

I understand and I agree to what you are saying but what about the perception. Criminals know that USDT is pegged to USD, would they dug deep to find about DAI. No, they will not as once an order of payment is set in the criminal world they rarely shift to any other mode unless, they get scrutinized by the authorities. I agree that Tether can be frozen, by the time it gets frozen as the government is involved the amount gets shifted to another wallet and gets cashed out. It is still a convenient way to operate in countries that have local exchanges as it is acceptable in most countries in their local exchanges. The point is to get USD pegged currency, convert it to local currency and utilise it for illegal activities.

I saw some darknet sites, and they mainly use Bitcoin and Monero. Centralized stablecoins are not as popular.
Criminal activity when money is stolen and settlements between people, which will then not be declared to the tax authorities, are different options. And the second option is more common in business relationships.

[pakhitheboss]

I saw some darknet sites, and they mainly use Bitcoin and Monero. Centralized stablecoins are not as popular.
Criminal activity when money is stolen and settlements between people, which will then not be declared to the tax authorities, are different options. And the second option is more common in business relationships.

Earlier it was mostly Bitcoin that was accepted as a mode of payment in the Darknet. With mixers getting seized and authorities focusing more on Bitcoin they started accepting Monero side by side with Bitcoin. Now, almost all darknet websites are asking for Monero as a payment method and it will go on until they face issues with Monero. I mean if you focus on the basic necessity of money laundering it was always meant for converting black money to white. Now, with cryptocurrencies and before the implementation of the tax it was easy for them, it was the best way to convert black to white. With harsh taxation policy and regulations, it is still a favorite way, but I feel they are now using DEX rather than CEX as it requires mandatory KYC.

[zasad@]

I saw some darknet sites, and they mainly use Bitcoin and Monero. Centralized stablecoins are not as popular.
Criminal activity when money is stolen and settlements between people, which will then not be declared to the tax authorities, are different options. And the second option is more common in business relationships.

Earlier it was mostly Bitcoin that was accepted as a mode of payment in the Darknet. With mixers getting seized and authorities focusing more on Bitcoin they started accepting Monero side by side with Bitcoin. Now, almost all darknet websites are asking for Monero as a payment method and it will go on until they face issues with Monero. I mean if you focus on the basic necessity of money laundering it was always meant for converting black money to white. Now, with cryptocurrencies and before the implementation of the tax it was easy for them, it was the best way to convert black to white. With harsh taxation policy and regulations, it is still a favorite way, but I feel they are now using DEX rather than CEX as it requires mandatory KYC.

Monero is more secure for anonymous payments, has lower fees and does not require mixers.
There are no big problems with exchanges either, and Ratimov made a very useful guide, which he later deleted.
https://web.archive.org/web/20231108171939/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5461917.0
Cryptocurrency will win when there is no need to exchange coins for cash and it will be possible to pay with cryptocurrencies for goods and services.

[pakhitheboss]

Monero is more secure for anonymous payments, has lower fees and does not require mixers.
There are no big problems with exchanges either, and Ratimov made a very useful guide, which he later deleted.
https://web.archive.org/web/20231108171939/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5461917.0
Cryptocurrency will win when there is no need to exchange coins for cash and it will be possible to pay with cryptocurrencies for goods and services.

You are making an important point here that I also agree cryptocurrency will win when we stop exchanging it for fiat. It took a lot of years to let go of gold and adopt a paper and it will take some years for your statement to come true. It is very clear that now Monero is more acceptable than Bitcoin currently as I went for a small ride into the zone of the darknet. The sellers are the same but now most of them are asking for Monero and there are very few who are now asking for Bitcoin. Understandably the congestion and the fee are the main concerns.

[zasad@]

Monero is more secure for anonymous payments, has lower fees and does not require mixers.
There are no big problems with exchanges either, and Ratimov made a very useful guide, which he later deleted.
https://web.archive.org/web/20231108171939/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5461917.0
Cryptocurrency will win when there is no need to exchange coins for cash and it will be possible to pay with cryptocurrencies for goods and services.

You are making an important point here that I also agree cryptocurrency will win when we stop exchanging it for fiat. It took a lot of years to let go of gold and adopt a paper and it will take some years for your statement to come true. It is very clear that now Monero is more acceptable than Bitcoin currently as I went for a small ride into the zone of the darknet. The sellers are the same but now most of them are asking for Monero and there are very few who are now asking for Bitcoin. Understandably the congestion and the fee are the main concerns.

And the crisis of the banking system in the world is prompting people to assume that cryptocurrencies will occupy a certain share in the global financial market. All states print money. Cash hodlers lose 7-15% per year in countries with good economies and bank interest does not even compensate for these losses, but only slightly reduces the losses.

[pakhitheboss]

And the crisis of the banking system in the world is prompting people to assume that cryptocurrencies will occupy a certain share in the global financial market. All states print money. Cash hodlers lose 7-15% per year in countries with good economies and bank interest does not even compensate for these losses, but only slightly reduces the losses.

The banking system is one of the worst systems humans have created to loot humans. What the banks advertise is the biggest fraud, they say that every bank user needs to save money and invest in the banking system while on the contrary they take that money and invest in business to make more money. They are using a user's money to earn profits and when they are asked to share the profit they only pay peanuts.

The status of banking in my country is so bad that if you keep money in your bank account you would hardly earn any interest. If you invest in any banking-based schemes the amount of interest you get is very less. That was the primary reason why the middle class in my country invested in stocks and now they are investing in crypto. The government does not like it and that is why they implemented the highest tax slab for crypto trading.

[zasad@]

And the crisis of the banking system in the world is prompting people to assume that cryptocurrencies will occupy a certain share in the global financial market. All states print money. Cash hodlers lose 7-15% per year in countries with good economies and bank interest does not even compensate for these losses, but only slightly reduces the losses.

The banking system is one of the worst systems humans have created to loot humans. What the banks advertise is the biggest fraud, they say that every bank user needs to save money and invest in the banking system while on the contrary they take that money and invest in business to make more money. They are using a user's money to earn profits and when they are asked to share the profit they only pay peanuts.

The status of banking in my country is so bad that if you keep money in your bank account you would hardly earn any interest. If you invest in any banking-based schemes the amount of interest you get is very less. That was the primary reason why the middle class in my country invested in stocks and now they are investing in crypto. The government does not like it and that is why they implemented the highest tax slab for crypto trading.

Any inadequate tax regime always causes a shadow market. I have cited Moscow and St. Petersburg many times as examples of the largest shadow markets in the world.
But these shadow exchanges have branches in many countries and are constantly expanding. If you close them, then many other small exchangers will open in their place, which will work much more secretly.
All information on https://www.bestchange.ru/ and https://kurs.expert/

[bbc.reporter]

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/