Stablecoin issuer Tether Inc., has said on Twitter it had received a ransom demand for 500 BTC (~$24 million). The blackmailer — according to Tether — threatened to leak documents to the public in an effort to "harm the bitcoin ecosystem," in case Tether was not paid. The company already said it would not fulfill the conditions.
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to stay up to date on the latest crypto and blockchain news.
"While we believe this is a pretty sad attempt at a shakedown, we take it seriously. We have reported the forged communications and the associated ransom demand to law enforcement," Tether said.
The company says it does not know whether this is a "basic extortion scheme" or people looking to undermine Tether. The blackmail comes after Tether and iFinex Inc., a parent company of Bitfinex, agreed to pay $18.5 million in penalties as the both companies made false statements about the backing of the tether stablecoin.
Earlier, the New York State Office of the Attorney General found that Tether’s claims that its stablecoin was fully backed by US dollars at all times "was a lie." As part of the settlement, Tether will publish updates on USDT's reserves on a quarter basis. The NYAG also required Bitfinex and Tether to end all trading activity with New Yorkers.
If you are looking for a crypto trading platform to trade your assets, visit Gozo.pro, a safe and reliable exchange.