CTO of Bitfinex and Tether Freezes USDT Funds Associated With the KuCoin Scam

• CTO of Bitfinex and Tether, Paolo Ardoino  has recently freezed Tether Token (USDT) worth $33 million
• Ardoino has frozen USDT funds worth $33 millions or in other words the status of decentralised is tampered
• Ardoino in reply has elaborated his actions and has mentioned that Tether is a centralised stablecoins similar to others

The CTO of Bitfinex and Tether, Paolo Ardoino  has recently freezed Tether Token (USDT) worth $33 million which were apparently associated with the KuCoin hack. The $33 million freeze is distributed in this way: Bitfinex has froze $13 million USDT on the EOS Network and Tether has frozen $20 million on the Ethereum network. Ardoino notified the decision over a tweet and advised everyone to stay safe from malicious activities. 

The big Question of Tether’s Decentralisation

However, this has given rise to controversies. This is because everything on Blockchain is meant to be decentralised which means no single organization or entity has the control of it. But since, Ardoino has frozen USDT funds worth $33 millions or in other words the status of decentralised is somehow tampered because the authority has been transferred into the hands of the CTO. Consequently, various tweets have been flooding the crypto space since the event took place. In one of the relevant tweets has accused tether of slipping and for conducting more and more illegal activities on their network. 

Tether Accused of Controlling Their Issued Tokens Directly

In his Twitter thread he has further mentioned that Tether is an ecosystem that facilitates easy transfer of dollars similar to that of cryptocurrencies. Moreover, anyone is allowed to run a USDT pair and then handle it; further they issue loans in a much more efficient scale and the amount of the sum that is generated in such activities have no track. But according to the user, one thing was sure and it was that they have direct control over their issued tokens, something which is not acceptable for a decentralised network. He mentions that this is the biggest drawback of cryptocurrencies and as long as the users have their private keys intact their funds must not be frozen. 

Ardoino Elaborates his Actions

However, Ardoino in reply has elaborated his actions and has mentioned that Tether is a centralised stablecoins similar to others. Hence, they are responsible for every activity that happens in their platform. They have duties towards their customers, competent regulators and last but not the least the law enforcers. For every action they have a predetermined set of strict rules and parameters. Lastly he has confirmed the user that he won’t let anything slip outside. 

Ritika Sharma

With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.