- Rumors have been spreading about Tether’s Commercial paper holdings.
- Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, condemns the rumors saying that they are entirely false.
- The rumor was that Tether’s CP portfolio was backed 85% by Chinese or Asian commercial paper.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, addressed the rumors about Tether and its commercial paper holdings. “It’s insane how much FUD is spread by hedge funds interested to cause further hell to make some extra bucks,” posted the entrepreneur on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).
1/Tether reduced almost 50% its CP holdings since 31st March 2022. By end of June only 8.4B CP left. CP exposure going to be reduced to 0.No exposure to Celsius on our reserves. Liquidated without losses.No exposure to 3AC. https://t.co/vPUW3s16Pk
— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) June 15, 2022
To provide context, the rumor was that Tether’s portfolio was backed 85% by Chinese and Asian commercial papers and that it was being traded at a 30% discount. Tether condemns the false rumors about its commercial paper holdings and says it is just a panic-creating tactic.
Tether leaders stated that the rumors were made to create panic in the already disturbed market conditions to make quick profits. Tether reported in its most recent assurance opinion that US Treasuries now account for over 47% of total USDT reserves, with commercial paper accounting for less than 25% of USDT’s backing.
Execs of the platform also wrote that its commercial paper holdings had been reduced to 11 billion, and they envision it being 8.4 billion by June end. It also assured that the CP exposure would gradually drop to zero without losses. The company also added that the current situation with the Celsius lending platform and its liquidation didn’t cause any losses to tether.
Tether’s lending activity with Celsius (as with any other borrower) has always been overcollateralized: reads the post. It says that apart from a tiny investment made with Tether shares in the company, Tether has no ongoing exposure to Celsius.
Another rumor that has been spreading is that Tether has lending exposure to Three Arrows Capital. Tether denied this rumor, too, stating that it is false.