According to Omni Explorer, cryptocurrency Tether has issued new USDT tokens worth $250 million.
USDT, also known as a stablecoin, is a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar, as the company claims.
Previously criticized for its lack of transparency, Tether cut ties with auditing firm Friedman LLP before an official audit could be conducted.
The cryptocurrency community also finds it hard to believe that all coins are really backed by by U.S. dollars. In March, Tether issued 300 million coins, which makes this is the second large USDT emission in the past few months. The total number of Tether tokens has now risen to 2.5 billion.
A notable Tether critic is the anonymous blogger Bitfinex'ed, who revealed a link between the release of new Tether coins and the rising prices for Bitcoin and Ethereum in March 2018. Following the issuance of new USDT tokens, the rate of both ETH and BTC also increased.
Bitfinex, a Tether sister company, has threatened to take legal action against critics questioning the digital currency’s peg to USD - a fact still unproven in the absence of an audit.
By Ekaterina Ulyanova