The CEO of Ripple Labs says that the company behind the biggest stablecoin by market cap could be the next target of US government regulators.
In an interview with the World Class YouTube channel last week, Ripple Labs head Brad Garlinghouse warned that crypto’s next “black swan event” could involve the space’s leading stablecoin, USDT.
“Do I think there’s going to be another Black Swan event? Of course. 100%. I just don’t know exactly what it is. The only one that’s going to be an interesting one to watch — and I don’t even know [if this is] a Black Swan because I feel like a Black Swan, by definition, can’t really be predicted — But, yeah, the US government is going after Tether, like that is clear to me.
I view Tether as a very important part of the ecosystem and I don’t know how to predict the impact that will have on the rest of the ecosystem.”
A black swan event is a rare and unforeseen event with severe and widespread consequences for financial, or in this case, crypto markets.
Early on Monday, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino took to the social media platform X today to address Garlinghouse’s comments.
“A uninformed CEO, leading a company being investigated by the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), launching a competitive stablecoin (cui prodest?), is being reported spreading fear about USDt.”
Ripple announced plans to launch a USD-pegged stablecoin earlier this month.
Ardoino highlights Tether’s mission to ensure a safe financial ecosystem for all users, citing stability, liquidity, custodianship, and compliance as key pillars for trust.
“While I have revealed in many interviews the following information, most mainstream media newspapers evidently refuse to report such data. Unfortunately, the narrative that they are most interested in spreading is sensationalistic against the usage of stablecoins and cryptocurrencies across the world, likely to protect the old guard of the financial establishment.”
Last month, Tether said it worked with the FBI and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to take $1.4 million in USDT from a “scam network.”