Stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT) has allegedly received a ransom note demanding 500 Bitcoin (BTC). The note’s author claims that if Tether does not pay up, he or she will publish documents that could “harm the bitcoin ecosystem.”
Tether tweeted about the alleged ransom note on Sunday: “while we believe this is a pretty sad attempt at a shakedown, we take it seriously,” the company wrote, adding that “we are not paying.”
Today we also received a ransom demand for 500 BTC to be sent to bc1qa9f60pved3w3w0p7snpxlnh5t4uj95vxn797a7. The sender said that, unless they receive the BTC by tomorrow, they will leak documents to the public in an effort to “harm the bitcoin ecosystem.” We are not paying. 2/5
— Tether (@Tether_to) February 28, 2021
Throughout the years, the company has vehemently denied any and all doubts about their operations. Tether settled a multi-year court case against the NYAG on Tuesday regarding an $850 million loan that the company made to Bitfinex, its ‘sister’ cryptocurrency exchange. Neither Tether nor Bitfinex admitted to wrongdoing in the settlement.
Still, NY Attorney General, Leticia James said that” “Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie.” According to the agreement reached in the settlement, Tether will provide quarterly reports on its reserves for the next two years.
