*This is part of a larger series on the history of Tether. Part I (#1042943), Part II (#1059310), Part III (#1115791)
13 Preface13 Preface
13.1 Bitfinexed is first person accused of spreading Tether FUD on 6 May 2017.
13.111 aka AtlasRand1 on Reddit
13.112 Bitfinexed starts tweeting on 10 April 2017.
13.12 patio11 posts first tweet about Tether on 19 September 2017.
13.121 aka Patrick McKenzie
13.122 McKenzie first mentions Bitfinex on 9 April 2017, when Bitfinex sued Wells Fargo for debanking them.
13.123 McKenzie publishes a series of articles on his website documenting Tether in 2022 and 2019.
13.13 In August 2017, David Gerard says "I really need to get my head around Tether. I didn't put it in the book cos I don't understand it at all."
13.131 The book is Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum & Smart Contracts, published in July 2017.
13.132 David Gerard publishes his first blog post about Tether on 16 September 2017, "China, Tethers, and what's happened to the Bitcoin price in the past few days"
13.133 Gerard has written more than 90 posts about Tether since.
13.14 Tr0llyTr0llFace first calls Tether a fraud on 31 December 2017
13.141 Trolly maintained a website (tr0lly.com) until at least mid-2021. I couldn't reach it in 2026.
13.2 They come to be known as Tether Truthers.
13.21 On 7 February 2018, Amy Castor publishes "Warning Signs? A Timeline of Tether and Bitfinex Events" in Bitcoin Magazine.
13.211 She later expands this into one of the best timelines of Tether's history (unfortunately it only goes up to May 2021).
13.212 Castor has published more than 150 articles about Bitfinex and Tether in outlets such as Bitcoin Magazine, Forbes, The Block, and CoinDesk, as well as on her own blog.
13.22 On 5 March 2018, Cas Piancey publishes first Medium article about Tether: "An Interview with the Psuedonanonymous User Calling Out Bitfinex and Tether: Bitfinex'ed Explains it to a Layman"
13.23 "Tether is going to collapse the whole market at some point" -Bennett Tomlin, 14 May 2018
13.231 Bennett Tomlin publishes "How does a "Stablecoin" make money?" on 11 June 2018
13.232 This is the first of over 95 posts Tomlin writes about Tether and Bitfinex.
13.233 Tomlin launches something called the FUD Letter on 2 Jan 2022
13.3 On 25 June 2018, Larry Cermak publishes a detailed diagram of Tether's banking connections in Diar.
13.31 In October of 2018, Cermak publishes details about Bitfinex's relationship with HSBC -- details that had not previously been public.
13.32 intel_jakal starts tweeting about Tether on 28 October 2018
13.321 They first post about Bitfinex on 8 October 2018.
13.322 intel_jakal produces a lot of very detailed research on Crypto Capital Corp and Global Transaction Services (and Celsius and Quadriga and Tether).
13.33 Alex Danco and Social Capital team publish "Tether, Part One: The Stablecoin Dream" on 28 October 2018
13.34 Nicola Borzi claims to have been researching Bitfinex and Tether as of early 2018.
13.341 Borzi publishes "Bitfinex, the Italian network behind the boss that makes Bitcoin tremble" on 17 February 2021
13.342 He follows it up on 11 March 2021 with "Deltec, the roots of the Tether house bank lie in the history of Wall Street"
13.343 Sadly, he never publishes the promised part II.
13.35 Frances Coppola publishes an article in Forbes with the title "Tether's U.S. Dollar Peg Is No Longer Credible" on 14 March 2019.
13.351 Coppola was writing about Bitfinex on her blog as early as 2016.
13.352 She first tweets about Bitfinex when they got hacked in 2016.
13.36 Matt Levine publishes a newlsetter with the title "Things Got Weird for Stablecoin Tether" on 26 April 2019.
13.37 A user named coloradotravis publishes a thread about Tether on 23 November 2020.
13.371 aka Travis Kimmel
13.372 He is credited as "extremely insightful" in the anonymous Bit Short medium article.
13.38 By early 2021, a user named DRHOSP1 is calling himself "Paolo's.Court.Document.Deliverer."
13.4 Zeke Faux publishes his first Bloomberg article about Tether on 26 July 2021
13.41 Three months later Faux publishes "Anyone Seen Tether's Billions?"
13.42 On September 12 2023, Faux publishes Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall which would have been all about Tether if SBF hadn't created such a monumental shitshow with FTX.
13.5 Ben McKenzie publishes "Untethered" with Jacob Silverman on 19 October 2021.
13.51 a few weeks prior to this, McKenzie published "Celebrity Crypto Shilling Is a Moral Disaster."
13.52 "I wrote a thing for @Slate with @SilvermanJacob about how my (dearly beloved) fellow celebs pushing crypto scams is bad" is how he promoted it on Twitter.
13.53 Ben McKenzie publishes Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud on 18 July 2023.
14 DELTEC BANK & TRUST LIMITED14 DELTEC BANK & TRUST LIMITED
14.1 "We are pleased to be able to confirm that Tether has an account with Deltec Bank & Trust Limited" -Tether (see also #1115791).
14.11 Deltec is founded in 1946 in Brazil "as a spin-off of Kidder-Peabody"
14.111 Clarence J. Dauphinot Jr. is the founder.
14.1111 "Dauph married Nancy White in l 939. In 1945, he wed Valerie Lathrop. He married Penelope Charske in 1959." -Princeton Alumni Weekly
14.1112 Clarence went by the nickname "Dauph."
14.112 "Deltec has pioneered in raising investment capital in Brazil to develop new industries for the country and set a pattern that others are copying." -Time Magazine, 7 July 1958
14.1121 Deltec employees are described as "hardy young men carrying briefcases."
14.1122 "The U.S. had been exporting all sorts of American know-how," says Dauphinot, "except a very basic one—the formation of capital-marketing techniques."
14.1123 Deltec "became Brazil’s most active stock underwriter, was doing business in New York, Colombia and Venezuela."
14.113 In 1957, Deltec moved its operations to The Bahamas.
14.12 By 1989, Gustavo Vollmer Herrera Sr was already a long-time Deltec board member.
14.121 Gustavo is Julio Herrera Velutini's second cousin.
14.122 Julio is the founder of Britannia Financial Group.
14.123 Britannia Bank & Trust Ltd buys Deltec's banking lines in September 2024.
14.1231 “The business we are in requires that we grow to sustain viability. Portfolio acquisition is an important part of this growth strategy.” -Julian Francis
14.12311 Julian Francis is a former governor (1997 - 2005) of the central bank of The Bahamas.
14.13 From 1989 to 1995, Deltec becomes one of the largest worldwide holders and traders of Brady Bonds, participating actively in the restructuring of the Latin American debt owed to the USA.
14.2 Clarence Dauphinot Jr dies on 13 January 1995
14.21 The cause of death is a heart attack, his family said.
14.211 It was sudden.
14.3 Timothy Fraser-Smith joins Deltec in June 2000 as chief executive.
14.31 By 2010, Deltec only had 300 remaining clients, with less than $1.7b in total AUM.
14.32 In 2012, Fraser-Smith meets an untimely demise when he falls from the roof of his home in Lyford Cay as he tries to repair a window shutter during Hurricane Sandy.
14.321 "Everyone – employees, associates and clients – appreciated his integrity, great professionalism, sense of humour and friendship. We will miss him dearly." -Jean Chalopin
14.322 Jean Chalopin is described as executive chairman of Deltec International Group.
14.323 "Deltec Bank & Trust Limited is 100% owned by Deltec International Group and its employees." -Deltec FAQ: Who owns and runs Deltec Bank?
14.4 Jean Chalopin becomes a director of Deltec International, S.A. as early as 1996.
14.41 Chalopin is one of the guys who came up with Inspector Gadget.
14.411 Jean Chalopin founds DIC group in 1971 in France.
14.412 By 1981, DIC group of companies had become the world's largest creator and producer of children's programs for television.
14.413 DIC group also create Care Bears.
14.4131 And they create M.A.S.K.
14.42 In 1983, Chalopin proposes "to the city of Paris that he build a covered amusement park for the city’s youth in the heart of the city."
14.421 The amusement park will to be called Planet Magique.
14.422 Planet Magique takes four years to build and is (kinda) completed in 1989.
14.423 In 1987, Chalopin sells his interest in the DIC Group.
14.4231 The sale causes Planet Magique to lose the rights to the cartoon series and characters (ie. Inspector Gadget) on which the park was based.
14.4232 The majority of the rides and attractions that Planet Magique had promised and advertised are either heavily modified or cancelled altogether.
14.424 The park opens to the public hastily on 20 December 1989 before it is remotely near completion.
14.4241 30000 visitors attend during the first week, but they were wildly and vocally disappointed, as was the press.
14.4242 The park closes only 12 days after it opens.
14.43 Chalopin co-writes Trail of the Panda in 2009, directed by Ye Tian.
14.432 Chalopin opens a "budding restaurant and entertainment chain that will soon also offer travel services" with Ye Tian.
14.433 Jean is a client, investor and shareholder with Deltec for over 30 years.
14.44 Sometime between 2010 and 2022, Jean Chalopin becomes the Chairman and CEO of Deltec International Group.
14.5 Giancarlo Devasini is introduced to Chalopin in 2017, by a different Deltec customer who had "gotten rich from Bitcoin" -Zeke Faux, Number Go Up
14.51 Devasini made Chalopin a risotto lunch. -Zeke Faux, Number Go Up
14.511 Devasini spent some of his childhood in the same village in Italy as Chalopin's mother. -Zeke Faux, Number Go Up
14.5111 The village is Casale Monferrato, near Turin. -Zeke Faux, Number Go Up
14.6 On 1 November 2018, Tether publishes a letter from Deltec Bank & Trust stating that "the portfolio cash value of your account is $1,831,322,828.00"
14.61 On 17 July 2019, The Block runs an article saying that Tether is now banking with Deltec.
14.62 This is also when, according to the New York Office of the Attorney General, Tether transfers almost $500 million from its account at Deltec to Bitfinex's account at Deltec (see also #1115791).
14.63 In March 2020, Bitfinex launches the $280 million fund, Fulgur Alpha.
14.632 The fund's assets are held in custody provider Delchain Limited, and managed by Deltec Fund Services, a division of Deltec International Group
14.633 "With the launch of the Fulgur Alpha I Fund, Delchain, Deltec Fund Services and Bitfinex are jointly working on a general framework for crypto funds around the world." Delchain blog, "Delchain, a leading financial services company for blockchain, launches crypto fund with major players."
14.634 "The diversification of risk makes this a unique proposition, not seen before" -Bruno Machialli, Executive Head of Operations, Delchain
14.635 In September 2021, Bennett Tomlin publishes a screenshot showing Paolo Ardoino as a director at Delchain from 6 July 2018 to 1 January 2019.
14.7 In April 2019, The Bahamas announces the formal release of its Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Bill 2019 (the DARE Bill) for an eight-week public consultation.
14.72 Ryan Pinder quits his role as Financial Services Minister in The Bahamas to take a "extraordinary, mind-blowing" job offer as Head of Wealth Management and Chief Legal Officer at Deltec.
14.721 It is also called an "offer he couldn't refuse."
14.722 In September 2021, Ryan Pinder is appointed Senator and to the Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Legal Affairs.
14.73 "When the Act was being developed, I don’t think FTX and Deltec commented in any way." -Christina Rolle, Executive Director, Securities and Exchange Commission of The Bahamas
14.731 "We have this normal consultation process, and I recall one executive from Deltec participated in our normal consultation meetings along with other industry participants." -Christina Rolle, Executive Director, Securities and Exchange Commission of The Bahamas
14.74 By November 2021, Deltec announces that its CEO paid a courtesy call on the Attorney General, Senator L Ryan Pinder.
14.8 The DARE act is passed 14 October 2020.
14.81 A 2024 class-action complaint against FTX and Deltec claims it passes "with the help of With the help of Deltec Bank"
14.82 In September of 2021, FTX Digital Markets is registered in The Bahamas.
14.821 FTX's Bahamian Subsidiary becomes first digital asset business licensed under The Bahamas DARE Act -yahoo!finance
14.822 FTX Digital Markets address: Building 27 Veridian Corporate Centre West Bay Street Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas
14.823 This is a two minute walk from the headquarters of Deltec Bank & Trust.
14.83 According to a class-action complaint against FTX, Alameda and Deltec, Chalopin says the crypto industry "would be nothing in The Bahamas if it weren’t for us in the beginning."
15 FTX AND ALAMEDA RESEARCH15 FTX AND ALAMEDA RESEARCH
15.1 Tether sends almost $36.7 billion in USDT to Alameda Research from its inception until Alameda Research filed for bankruptcy.
15.11 Alameda Research receives $31.7 billion tether in 2021.
15.111 "Alameda Research accounted for 37% of all outbound [Tether] volume." -Protos, The Tether Papers
15.12 “Deltec has been a long-time friend of FTX, and it is our pleasure to support them.” -Jean Chalopin, attributed by 2024 class action complaint
15.121 "Mr. Pepin participated in the Alameda-Tether Deltec Telegram chat, along with Giancarlo Devasini and Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO and CTO, respectively, and Caroline Ellison, Ryan Salame and members of Alameda’s Settlement Team, including, more often than not, Ms. Ngoy and Mr. Mahomar in California." -Caroline Ellison, CEO, Alameda Research
15.122 "When Alameda wanted to create USDT, it would transfer an equivalent amount in U.S. dollars from Alameda’s Deltec Bank account to Tether’s Deltec Bank account." -Caroline Ellison, CEO, Alameda Research
15.1221 "When Alameda wanted to redeem USDT, it would initiate a redemption transaction on Tether’s website, send the USDT to an address controlled by Tether, and Tether would in turn transfer an equivalent amount of U.S. dollars from Tether’s Deltec Bank account to Alameda’s Deltec Bank account." -Caroline Ellison, CEO, Alameda Research
15.123 "On our side, we have customer that we have literally the full kyc that are also I believe customer of Tether, and we just literally instruct us or send to us wires and at the same time instruct I believe Tether about how much Tether they want to receive, they want to get and we notify them once we have been informed by the receipt of the money and that's how a tether is issued." -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust
15.124 "Every tether is backed by a reserve, there reserve is truly backed with more than what is in circulation. that we can see first hand. so I can confirm that." -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust
15.1241 "All the tether in circulation they have the reserve that is matching that, and more probably, but they have the reserve and there is no secret. The entire reserve is there." -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust
15.1242 "Held by deltec and probably other institutions." -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust
15.125 "I cannot speak about what I cannot know.I can only control what’s with us." -Jean Chalopin
15.13 "money for sam has traditionally = money for Giancarlo so all around good." -Ryan Salame, Head of OTC Operations, Alameda Research, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.2 On 7 January 2020, Tether supply reaches 4.6 bilion.
15.21 "MOOONNNEEEYYY TTTIIIIMMMMEEEE" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.211 On 23 January 2020, Tether launches Tether Gold (XAUT)
15.212 On 12 March 2020, Tether supply reaches 5 billion.
15.213 "I HEAR A MONEY TIME IS HAPPENING HERE I THINK I NEED TO BE A PART OF IT" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.22 On 31 March 2020, Tether supply reaches 6.18 billion.
15.221 "Quick MONEYY TIME" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.23 On 19 May 2020, Tether supply reaches 8.766 billion.
15.231 "I’m on a roll so let’s do more MONEY TIME" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.24 On 2 June 2020, Tether supply reaches 9.2 billion.
15.241 "MONEY TIME first let’s play “is it yours?" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.25 On 22 July 2020, Tether supply reaches 10 billion.
15.251 "On a positive note your last issuance (15M) took the total number of USDT in circulation to 10 bn, thanks guys!" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.252 "Tether is 3m away of 12bn will you be the one crossing 12bn lol" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.253 "Let’s do a 5MM creation!" -Lena Ngoy, Alameda Settlement Team, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.254 "it is MONEY TIME INDEEDE" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.255 "Congrats on always printing the round one, you did 10, 11 and now 12" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.256 On 14 August 2020, Tether supply reaches 12 billion.
15.26 "according to my calculation you guys did make it to 13bn with the above wire, I am pleased to see that the big tradition of Alameda breaking the round number is going on" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.27 On 8 September 2020, Tether supply reaches 14.34 billion.
15.271 "Hey Guys Moneyyyy time" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.272 Also in September, Tether launches on Solana.
15.28 On September 17 2020, Tether supply reaches 15 billion.
15.281 "MONEY TIME dear friends 😀 thank you for being here 😆 and ready to enjoy money time 😆" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.29 "Stablecoins promote a market-oriented liquidity that is provided by autonomous digital asset market participants...The principal threat they pose is to the stability of fee-driven bank profits." -Matthew Alexander, Compliance Analyst, Tether, "A New Path to Financial Stability: How Stablecoins Promote Transparency and More Equitable Markets"
15.3 By 16 October 2020, FTX has a "Fiat integration and revolving loan agreement" with Ifinex.
15.31 By 10 November 2020, Tether supply reaches 17 billion.
15.311 By 17 November 2020, Tether supply reaches 18 billion.
15.312 "You must feel like a dealer sometimes with how eager we are for the tethers I bet" -Unnamed Alameda trader, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.313 In the absence of regulation, stablecoin issuers can earn a profit by investing in higher-return or illiquid assets, or by lending funds or assets, while paying low or no interest to stablecoin holders. -Bank for International Settlements, Working Paper no 905, "Stablecoins: Risks, Potential and Regulation"
15.314 By 1 December 2020, Tether supply reaches 19 billion.
15.3141 &emsph; Bitcoin-Tether volumes are magnitudes greater than Bitcoin-dollar volumes.
15.315 By 18 December 2020, Tether supply reaches 20 billion.
15.3151 "God bless you all Alameda bunch … the world would be a much worse place without you" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.316 The STABLE Act is introduced by Rashida Tlaib, Chuy Garcia, and Stephen Lynch.
15.317 By 30 December 2020, Tether supply reaches 21 billion.
15.3171 "21bn1 … Alameda made it again! … I love you guys!" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.318 By 5 January 2021, Tether supply reaches 22 billion.
15.3181 "MONEY MONEY MONEY TIME" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.4 "Starting in 2021, Deltec granted Alameda a three-day grace period to pay for the Tethers it was buying, effectively giving the fund a short-term line of credit, according to the lawsuit." -Bloomberg, "Bahamas Bank Deltec Accused of Giving Bankman-Fried 'Secret' Credit to Buy Tether"
15.41 "Any issuance [of USDT] today can be paid [Jan.] 7 or 8 your choice (in case you need capital as we cover the first tranch [sic] today of existing line – FYI :))" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.411 "Whatever you would push now for Tether would be value tomorrow and payout for you decided between [Jan.] 7-8-11-12 … so when is the settlement date on the one you’ll issue now?" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.412 "Well what delay you want" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.413 "when do you want to repay anyhow what date works for you guys? … Up to you" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.414 "So total open 1bn 😀is it symbolic number or something lol?" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.415 "And here ladys and gentlemen … we broke 2bn" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.42 "The bank didn’t offer the grace period to other customers and a Deltec executive told the Alameda traders to keep it secret, according to the lawsuit." -Bloomberg, "Bahamas Bank Deltec Accused of Giving Bankman-Fried 'Secret' Credit to Buy Tether"
15.43 On 5 January 2021, Peter McCormack has Paolo Ardoino and Stuart Hoegner on What Bitcoin Did podcast to "deal with Tether FUD."
15.431 One year earlier (January 2020), McCormack tweeted: "Yes, I can confirm that Tether are helping with the costs of the legal case."
15.4311 McCormack was being sued by Craig Wright.
15.43111 aka "Faketoshi"
15.43112 aka not Satoshi Nakamoto.
15.5 Crypto Anonymous publishes The Bit Short: Inside Crypto's Doomsday Machine on January 14, 2021.
15.51 "From January 2020 to September 2020, the amount of all foreign currencies held by all the domestic banks in the Bahamas increases by only $600 million — going from $4.7B to $5.3B. (The table is in Bahamian dollars, but the Bahamian dollar is pegged to the US dollar, so 1 BSD = 1 USD.) But during the same period, total issued Tethers increased by almost $5.4 billion — going from $4.6B to $10B!" -Crypto Anonymous
15.512 Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO of Deltec Bank & Trust, does an interview with Laura Shin's Unchained podcast to talk about the Crypto Anonymous post.
15.513 "That report is actually not relevant and nothing to be seen there." -Gregory Pepin
15.514 Pepin says that Deltic is "not a domestic bank for the report of deposit" and that this means their balances are not included in the foreign currency numbers used by Crypto Anonymous.
15.515 "Should we do a random number instead of an even number to calm the annoying people on twitter or do we not care about them anymore" -Ryan Salame, Head of OTC Operations, Alameda Research, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.5151 "I believe if you do 600 they will call us scammers and that’s good, because the more they bad mouth us the more Tether becomes the one and only" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO, Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.52 "you crossed the 25 bn line, thanks for taking us there!" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.521 On 26 January 2021, Tether supply reaches 25 billion.
15.53 "Tether’s reserves are loans to exchanges, collateralized by Bitcoin. The Bitcoins that were used as collateral for margin trading, are now used as collateral for USDT." -Trolly McTrollface, "The Great Tether / Bitcoin Collateral Flippening"
15.531 Someone creates a fake Medium account with the username "Paulo Ardoino" and publishes "Tether indefinitely suspends its token redeemability and transfers all its reserve assets to Stuart Hoegner's bank account in Canada."
15.532 The post includes this paragraph: "Those recent events led me to finally take the matters into my own hands, and to commit Stu to a specialised facility to deal with his addiction to drugs and kangaroo rimjobs. So I opened a Yellow Pages catalogue to look for such a place (yes we still have these in the Bahamas), and you won’t believe what I found. Our Interactive Brokers password, scribbled on a napkin!"
15.533 The post is removed by Medium.
15.534 Around the same time, Trolly McTrollface posts this on his blog: "I've taken down this post after a complaint has been filed with my hosting service."
15.54 By 6 February 2021, Tether supply reaches 28 billion.
15.541 Paulo Ardoino tweets:
Recent #tether history
29/01/21: 26 billion (2 days)
02/02/21: 27 billion (4 days)
05/02:21: 28 billion (3 days)
08/02/21: 29 billion ( 3 days)
15.542 "Doing my best to hold the wall but such money tsunami is hard to handle dude" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.55 By 8 February 2021, Tether supply reaches 29 billion.
15.551 "With today’s issuance you broke the 29th billion btw, the big tradition of Alameda breaking the round number! -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.56 By 9 February 2021 Tether supply reaches 30 billion.
15.561 "You just broke the 30th billion" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.562 Bitrefill begins accepting USDT.
15.563 Paulo Ardoino buys his first Satoshi Gallery painting
15.57 By 16 February 2021, Tether supply reaches 32 billion.
15.6 On 23 February 2021, a Medium user named DeltecExposed posts "Deltec Bank & Trust and their relationship to Tether and Ifinex."
15.61 The post says "Deltec Bank — the shadow offshore bank which is backed by iFinex Inc. (Tether and Bitfinex) has suffered a critical security breach."
15.611 It also says "There is a private database dump of their business infrastructure and customers on the darknet which may lead to a crash of the whole Bitcoin ecosystem."
15.612 And "We’re currently looking for journalists which are willing to successively release articles related to the findings in those database leaks."
15.613 According to a later Protos article, the DeltecExposed Medium article "a Medium blog claiming ownership over a trove of sensitive Tether docs circulated on Twitter just hours before the OAG revealed its settlement."
15.62 By 23 February 2021, Tether supply reaches 34 billion.
15.621 Tether and Bitfinex announce that they have reached a settlement with the New York Attorney General (#1115791 - 10.41)
15.622 "The settlement amount we have agreed to pay to the Attorney General’s Office should be viewed as a measure of our desire to put this matter behind us and focus on our business." -Tether statement
15.623 "Under the terms of the settlement we admit to no wrongdoing." -Bitfinex and Tether joint statement
15.624 Tether agrees to pay New York $18.5 million as part of the settlement.
15.625 "We're ending @bitfinex and @Tether_to's virtual currency trading in New York after the companies covered up about $850 million in losses around the globe and deceived the market by overstating reserves." -Office of the Attorney General of New York's Twitter
15.626 Someone creates a Twitter account with the name DeltecLeaks and begins posting details that seem to be from Posting as DeltecLeaks
15.6261 The account is quickly suspended.
15.6262 Another account is created called LeaksTether
15.627 Amy Castor says "I do think the end is nigh for Tether."
15.628 David Gerard says "For the moment, I'm treating all of this as interesting but unverified gossip. You should too."
15.63 "They belong to our enemies they are scared of us because wgmi" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO, Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.631 Tether says "PSA: Forged documents are circulating online purporting to be between @tether_to personnel and reps of Deltec Bank & Trust and others. The documents are bogus."
15.632 Paolo Ardoino says "Document forgery is the last attempt for Tether thruthers to cope with recent news. For tin foil hats is now a holy war against USDt. Good luck 😃
15.6321 He also says: The climax of these forgery attacks will be when they will release a screenshot of me in front of a pizza with pineapple."
15.633 "Today we also received a ransom demand for 500 BTC to be sent to bc1qa9f60pved3w3w0p7snpxlnh5t4uj95vxn797a7. The sender said that, unless they receive the BTC by tomorrow, they will leak documents to the public in an effort to “harm the bitcoin ecosystem.” We are not paying." -Tether Twitter
15.64 "38bn, the big tradition of you breaking the round number is being respected" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.65 By 24 March 2021, Tether supply reaches 40 billion.
15.651 Cas Piancey publishes "The Success of Tether."
15.66 By 26 April 2021, Tether supply reaches 50 billion.
15.661 "I think according to rumor … that we have a some money time here did you hear the same rumor?" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in group telegram channel
15.7 On 21 April 2021, Tether releases it's first "Independent Assurance Opinion Confirming Tether's Reserves Fully Backed"
15.71 The report, by Moore Cayman, states "The group’s consolidated assets exceed its consolidated liabilities."
15.711 "No one is required to use Tether’s stablecoin. Unlike fiat money, there are no laws compelling people to hold or use tether tokens. People hold them because they are useful, stable, liquid, and trusted." -Stuart Hoegner, "Tether is Setting a New Standard for Transparency -- And Responding to Criticism That is Untethered From Facts"
15.7111 "We will meet fiction with facts, as we strive to set a new industry standard for transparency." -Stuart Hoegner, "Tether is Setting a New Standard for Transparency -- And Responding to Criticism That is Untethered From Facts"
15.72 Between 12 May 2021 and 19 May, cryptocurrency prices fall by 30% or more.
15.721 Tether tweets: "USDt is not "losing" its peg. Subject to our terms of service, Tether issues and redeems one USDt for one dollar: no more, no less. This is irrespective of market conditions."
15.722 "I’m glad today we sent you in one day more money that you ever sent to us in one day, it’s a good feeling to be finally revenged 😉 … always a pleasure" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO, Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.73 By 24 May 2021, Tether supply reaches 60 billion.
15.74 The President's Working Group on Financial Markets meets to discuss stablecoins.
15.741 "The group also heard a presentation from Treasury staff on the preparation of a report on stablecoins, which would discuss their potential benefits and risks, the current U.S. regulatory framework, and the development of recommendations for addressing any regulatory gaps." -US Department of Treasury Readout of the Meeting of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets to Discuss Stablecoins
15.8 FTX Trading Ltd raises a $900 million series B round at a $18 billion valuation.
15.81 Investors include Paradigm, Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo, SoftBank, Ribbit Capital, Insight Partners, Third Point, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Altimeter, BOND, NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Willoughby Capital, 40North, Senator Investment Group, Sino Global Capital, Multicoin, the Paul Tudor Jones family, Izzy Englander, Alan Howard, VanEck, Hudson River Trading, and Circle.
15.811 Deltec Group is also an investor in FTX.
15.812 "I’m already preparing the “alameda has a deltec account” tweet for the “How yOu ISssuE oN THe WEekeNd” tweet" -Ryan Salame, Head of OTC Operations, Alameda Research, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
15.82 In October 2021, he [Chalopin] secured a US$50 million loan from an entity connected to FTX through one of its executives; the entity’s ties to FTX and its loan to Deltec have not been previously reported. https://www.forbes.com.au/news/investing/ftx-secretly-used-an-execs-company-for-loan-to-its-bahamian-bank/
15.821 Alameda invested US$11.5 million into Moonstone Bank, a tiny Washington state bank owned by Chalopin through a holding company. https://www.forbes.com.au/news/investing/ftx-secretly-used-an-execs-company-for-loan-to-its-bahamian-bank/
15.822 "S&C investigated the circumstances surrounding two $50 million loans involving Salame, Alameda, and two other companies, Deltec International Group (“Deltec”) and Norton Hall Ltd. (“Norton Hall”). The investigation concluded that the loans were intended to ameliorate Deltec’s capital issues while ensuring that Deltec would “owe” the FTX Group as a result, and the related promissory notes were structured to conceal Alameda’s role in the loans. The investigation further determined that Salame executed one note as a “director” of Norton Hall, despite not being a director of Norton Hall and despite Norton Hall’s director being unaware of the note. Following the investigation, the Debtors reached a settlement regarding the loans, with Deltec agreeing to pay the value of the loan with interest and the remaining obligations extinguished."
15.9 "By no later than fall of 2021, Alameda had no liquid assets other than FTX customer funds." 2024 Class Action Complaint
16 CUMBERLAND MINING16 CUMBERLAND MINING
16.1 On 12 August 2021, Protos publishes "SCOOP: Tether minted most USDT to just 2 firms -- Alameda and Cumberland."
16.11 In the piece, Protos alleges: "Over two-thirds of all Tether minted across multiple years went to just two crypto companies — Alameda Research and Cumberland Global — sources familiar with the matter exclusively told Protos."
16.12 In November, Protos expands on this research, clarifying: "Together, Alameda and Cumberland received at least $60.3 billion in USDT across the time period analyzed (2014 - 31 October 2021), equal to around 55% of all outbound volume — ever." -Protos, "The Tether Papers
16.121 "$49.2 billion (71%) of Alameda and Cumberland’s USDT was acquired in the past year alone, equal to about 60% of all Tether issued in that time." -Protos, "The Tether Papers
16.122 Cumberland receives $23.7 billion tethers between 2014 and 31 October 2021.
16.123 "Cumberland received 22% of all outbound [tether] volume." -Protos, The Tether Papers
16.124 "Tether issued Cumberland $18.7 billion in USDT directly to Binance." -Protos, The Tether Papers
16.2 Cumberland is a subsidiary of DRW.
16.21 DRW's digital asset trading desk, Cumberland Mining, is launched by Mike Komaransky in 2014.
16.211 "I had a very strong distrust of the way the government handled...basically anything." -Mike Komaransky
16.212 "I happened to be an anarchist." -Mike Komaranksy
16.213 "Komaransky became interested in Bitcoin after reading George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen’s blog about the digital currency in 2010." -Cointelegraph, "Cryptocurrency Trading Helps Make Traditional Wall Street Traders Millionaires"
16.2131 The Tyler Cowen post [may be[(https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2010/06/assorted-links-24.html) this simple list of "Assorted Links" from 28 June 2010.
16.21311 The first link is "1. Bitcoin: peer-to-peer money" and links to the Wikipedia entry for Bitcoin.
16.22 Komaranksy joins DRW holdings in 2001 and convinces them to get into Bitcoin in 2014.
16.221 "Because I had been around for four or five years, I knew the people with the crypto who wanted to sell it. These are the nerds who had been mining in their garage for a couple years and seeing the number go up." -Mike Komaransky
16.3 Cumberland Mining is co-founded by Erik Saraniecki.
16.31 Saraniecki joins DRW in 2006.
16.4 "In 2014 I was the 4th member of Cumberland, DRW’s crypto trading arm, and I believe the first institutional crypto trading desk in the world." -Chadwick Miller
16.41 "I was first involved with Bitcoin sometime in 2010." -Chadwick Miller
16.42 "Just did a quick google and I was user number 420 on bitcointalk.org" -Chadwick Miller
16.43 In November 2010, Miller says he is the owner of bitcoinbank.com and is wiling to sell the domain.
16.44 In June of 2014, Miller accidentally sends 800 bitcoins to Mt Gox.
16.441 He posts about it on Reddit.
16.442 And on BitcoinTalk.
16.5 In 2016, Bobby Cho joins Cumberland as Global Head of OTC Trading.
16.51 On 19 April 2015, Cho publishes "3 Reasons You Should Consider Investing in Bitcoin" in The Street.
16.511 "Whereas many investments require formal accreditations, have minimum trade sizes or are limited to qualified institutional buyers, no such qualifications exist in the bitcoin realm. In turn, bitcoin has a much larger addressable market than most traditional financial products, securities and investments." Bobby Cho, "3 Reasons You Should Consider Investing in Bitcoin"
16.512 Cho also says "And, of course, investors can add exposure to bitcoin by investing directly in the product itself. Through itBit, for example, investors can buy and sell bitcoin on a real-time digital exchange that also acts as custodian for these assets."
16.5121 In 2014, before joining Cumberland, Cho becomes director at itBit Trust.
16.5122 itBit is started in 2012 as an exchange, and later rebrands itself to Paxos.
16.6 Cumberland Mining is named after a Grateful Dead song Cumberland Blues.
16.61 "First project was a mining project, but the forte of cumberland mining was that we were a trading group. So really we should have been Cumberland Trading." -Mike Komaranksy
16.7 On 12 March 2015, CoinDesk publishes an article speculating that Cumberland Mining purchased 47,000 bitcoins auctioned by the US Marshalls.
16.71 The US Marshalls seized the bitcoins from Silk Road.
16.711 "Silk road had 150k, 160k bitcoin confiscated and those bitcoins went to auction by the US Marshalls." -Mike Komaransky
16.712 "I know that Cumberland Mining took over 60% of the coins during that auction." -Mike Komaransky
16.713 "That was when bitcoin was $600." -Mike Komaransky
16.72 In 2015, "The Cumberland Mining Twitter account contains just one tweet, but follows five accounts, including Israeli exchange Bits of Gold, the London-based exchange Coinfloor and credit-card payments enabler Simplex. Its avatar is a picture of the character Steve Youngblood of the comedy troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade."
16.721 Steve Youngblood is a character portrayed by Ian Roberts.
16.722 "At least two bitcoin notables among those following the Cumberland Mining account are Fred Ehrsam, the Coinbase co-founder, and Phil G Potter, a manager of the Bitfinex exchange."
16.73 At least 2000 of these bitcoins go "to an address known to be controlled by Bitfinex for customer deposits" -CoinDesk, "Secretive Mining Firm Revealed as Possible US Marshals Auction Winner"
16.74 Cumberland is a large market maker on Binance: "The vast majority of USDT issued to Cumberland was sent directly to Binance — approximately 79%." -Protos
17 # CELSIUS NETWORK
17.1 On 18 June 2021, Bernhard Mueller publishes "Is Tether a Black Swan?" https://muellerberndt.medium.com/is-tether-a-black-swan-51095720b01c
17.11 "Some fraction of the USDT supply would have been generated by issuing USDT loans with no corresponding inflows. Essentially, Tether would be leveraging its clients' deposits, which is exactly how commercial banks create fiat money in TradFi. You could also consider it a leveraged money market fund." -Bernhard Mueller, "Is Tether a Black Swan?"
17.12 "We do not have concrete evidence that this is what’s happening, but then again it’s certainly possible. In my opinion, we should demand evidence of proper backing from Tether and assume the worst when that evidence is not provided. Not the other way round!" -Bernhard Mueller, "Is Tether a Black Swan?"
17.13 Tether's terms of service on 24 August 2021 state: "Tether will not issue Tether Tokens for consideration consisting of the Digital Tokens (for example, bitcoin); only money will be accepted upon issuance. In order to cause Tether Tokens to be issued or redeemed directly by Tether, you must be a verified customer of Tether. No exceptions will be made to this provision."
17.2 On 7 October 2021, Alex Mashinsky tweets "We borrow USDT from @Tether_to"
17.21 Alex Mashinsky is Founder and CEO of Celsius Network.
17.211 Celsius Network is launched in March 2018.
17.2111 The Celsius whitepaper is full of cute pictures.
17.21111 "Members who lend coins on the Celsius Network will be protected by the Celsius lending protection pool." -Celsius whitepaper
17.21112 "Our dual-sided system will create a supply and demand cycle between institutional traders, such as hedge funds, who seek to borrow coins and require the CEL token to pay the fees and commissions; and the crypto holders around the world who receive these tokens as interest on their lent coins." -Celsius Whitepaper
17.2112 Celsius Network uses Prime Trust for custodial services.
17.2113 "Celsius is the first to offer interest income on XAUT gold."
17.2114 "Celsius Network surpasses $1 billion in cryptocurrency deposits since launch in 2018"
17.21141 "There's a lot of confusion where the yield comes from," [says]9https://web.archive.org/web/20220617121718mp_/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W327zdQ0x0) Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network.
17.2115 "Seeing a small correction is probably healthy for Bitcoin." -Alex Mashinksy, CEO of Celsius Network
17.2116 On 18 March 2021, Bitfinex lists Celsius's CEL token.
17.2117 Celsius announces a "limited time promotion on transferring Terra to your Celsius account"
17.2118 According to CoinDesk, in June 2021, Celsius may have lost 35,000 ETH when Stakehound misplaced the private keys.
17.2119 Also according to CoinDesk, Celsius also lost $22 million by mistakenly forfeiting restitution payments from the Badger DAO hack.
17.212 Alex Mashinsky also says: "We have never borrowed USD from Tether"
17.2121 In a Financial Times article, Mashinsky says: "If you give them enough collateral, liquid collateral, bitcoin, ethereum and so on . . . they will mint tether against it."
17.2122 Mashinsky also says: "New USDT is issued for such loans,” he added, and later destroyed when the loan is closed “so it does not permanently increase USDT in circulation.”
17.2123 "Mashinsky said the loans of USDT are typically at least 30 per cent overcollateralised, with the amount varying depending on market volatility. “If bitcoin drops, they give us a margin call [and then] we have to give them more bitcoin,” he added. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported Celsius had borrowed $1bn worth of USDT from Tether." "Tether’s bitcoin-backed lending clashes with dollar promise", Financial Times
17.2124 "Tether’s reserve disclosures show that about 4 per cent of its total assets, or $2.5bn, as of June(opens a new window) this year were “secured loans”, down from 12.6 per cent earlier(opens a new window) in the year. The disclosures do not distinguish whether the loans were made by lending out USDT in return for collateral or by lending out dollars other customers had paid in when buying USDT." "Tether’s bitcoin-backed lending clashes with dollar promise", Financial Times
17.22 Mashinsky says this because Bloomberg publishes this: "I also learned that Tether had made loans worth billions of dollars to other crypto companies, with Bitcoin as collateral. One of them is Celsius Network Ltd., a giant quasi-bank for cryptocurrency investors, its founder Alex Mashinsky told me. He said he pays an interest rate of 5% to 6% on loans of about 1 billion Tethers."
17.233 The Financial Times publishes an article that includes this response from Tether: “We have a select, small group of customers that borrow USDTs in exchange for posting security. These loans are secured by collateral in Tether’s possession of well in excess of 100 per cent of the loan proceeds and earn monthly interest.”
17.2331 The article also says Tether added "no loans were made to affiliated entities."
17.24 Jim Cramer says "If Tether collapsed, well then, it’s going to gut the whole crypto ecosystem" on Mad Money.
17.3 In June 2020, Tether was the lead investor in Celsius Network's first equity raise.
17.31 "The crypto community has only a few great projects and we are excited by the investment from Tether International as it will help us deliver USDt-based services to all our users." -Alex Mashinsky, CEO, Celsius Network
17.311 "We are proud to add Tether International as the first institution to participate in our equity fundraising." -Alex Mashinsky, CEO, Celsius Network
17.312 "We have worked with Celsius Network Limited since 2018. We found them to have the same passion and commitment to the crypto community that we have. We look forward to advancing our relationship together."-Giancarlo Devasini, CFO, Tether
17.4 On 15 October, 2021 the CFTC fines Tether $41 million for misleading reserve claims.
17.41 By 20 October 2021, Tether supply reaches 70 billion.
17.411 "yes sir, lets break the 70th bn" -Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
17.5 On 20 January 2022, FTX and SALT announce that they will be hosting the first Crypto Bahamas event in late April 2022.
17.51 Deltec will present the 'Trusting Disruption' Stage at Crypto Bahamas.
17.511 Speakers include Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Tom Brady, Michael Lewis, and Jean Chalopin.
17.52 By 6 March 2022, Tether supply reaches 80 billion.
17.53 Alex Mashinsky posts on LinkedIn that he is "finishing a book that will detail my thoughts and ideas" about what "#Web3.0" is going to look like.
17.6 On 7 May 2022, the value of TerraUSD drops to $0.985.
17.61 In March 2022, Do Kwon tweeted: "$UST with $10B+ in $BTC reserves will open a new monetary era of the Bitcoin standard."
17.611 aka @stablekwon
17.612 Do Kwon is CEO of Terra Luna.
17.62 As early as 19 March 2018, the v0.0.8 of the Terra whitepaper is published.
17.621 Our belief is that while an elastic monetary policy is the solution to the stability problem, an efficient fiscal policy can drive adoption
17.6211 The official whitepaper is published in April 2019.
17.6212 When TerraSDR's price < 1 SDR, users and arbitragers can send 1 TerraSDR to the system and receive 1 SDR's worth of Luna. -Terra Money: Stability and Adoption
17.6213 When TerraSDR's price > 1 SDR, users and arbitragers can send 1 SDR's worth of Luna to the system and receive 1 TerraSDR. -Terra Money: Stability and Adoption
17.6214 The protocol adjusts the supply of Terra in response to changes in demand to keep its price stable. This is achieved using Luna, the mining token whose stable rewards are designed to absorb volatility from changing economic cycles. -Terra Money: Stability and Adoption
17.622 "If UST demand shrinks, it could cause a negative feedback loop and liquidity problems for both UST and LUNA, also known as a “death spiral” where tons of capital pulls out of the Terra ecosystem, which crashes the price of LUNA and then eventually breaks the UST peg. If that occurs, it’s functionally very similar to an emerging market currency crisis." -Lyn Alden
17.623 "I think UST will collapse on its own, but if someone attacks it, it will collapse even faster." Kevin Zhou, Galois Capital
17.624 "I don't debate the poor on Twitter"-Do Kwon
17.625 "UST is going to blow up." -Cory Klippsten
17.626 "It's basically risk-free." -Raoul Paul, Real Vision
17.63 On 9 May 2022, Kwon tweets: "Deploying more capital - steady lads"
17.631 By 9 May 2022, Tether supply reaches 83.2 billion.
17.632 This is the peak of Tether issuance until 23 May 2023.
17.64 On 11 May 2022, Kwon posts a thread starting with: "1/ Dear Terra Community:"
17.641 "The price stabilization mechanism is absorbing UST supply (over 10% of total supply), but the cost of absorbing so much stablecoins at the same time has stretched out the on-chain swap spread to 40%, and Luna price has diminished dramatically absorbing the arbs." -Do Kwon
17.642 Sometime on 11 May 2022, Celsius withdraws 225,000 ETH ($436 million at the time) from Terra's Anchor Protocol.
17.6421 "A person with direct knowledge of the situation said that there are no Celsius funds left outstanding with Anchor Protocol" -The Block
17.6422 On 11 May 2022 Celsius says "All user funds are safe. We continue to be open for business as usual."
17.6423 “Celsius was relatively OK because they used Bonded ETH (bETH) as collateral to borrow UST, which was then lent to Anchor for yield." -Igor Igamberdiev, The Block Research
17.65 On 12 May 2022, the value of LUNA plunges 96% to less than $0.10 and many exchanges halt trading on the coin.
17.651 By the next day, its value was essentially $0.
17.66 On 12 May 2022, USDT briefly loses its dollar peg, trading down to $0.95 on some venues before recovering.
17.67 On 13 May 2022, Tether publishes a new attestation.
17.671 Tether says: "Today, Tether Holdings Limited made available its latest quarterly assurance opinion demonstrating the strength of its reserves revealing significant reductions in commercial paper investments and an overall increase in U.S. treasury bills."
17.672 Tether also says: "It also demonstrates that the group’s consolidated assets exceed its consolidated liabilities."
17.673 By 17 May 2022, Tether supply falls to 74.127 billion.
17.674 "Celsius Network is excited to announce that its wholly-owned Bitcoin mining subsidiary, Celsius Mining LLC, has recently submitted confidentially a draft registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC")." -Celsius Network press release
17.675 "This is not a coincidence. This is somebody who decided, 'You know what? I'm going to take down all of Celsius." -Alex Mashinsky, in a Twitter Spaces, attributed by Joe Light, "Celsius Faces a Revolt as a High-Yield Crypto Plummets"
17.68 Patrick Mackenzie publishes "Tether Required Recapitalization in May 2022"
17.681 Mackenzie notes that, according to Tether's attestation, "a 3.27% decrease in the value of these investments wipes out all Tether equity and causes their tokens to be undercollateralized."
17.682 Mackenzie also points out: "Cryptocurrency suffered a broad-based decline in May 2022, during which Tether lost the peg not later than May 12th. As of this writing, on May 20th, it has yet to regain the peg. Bitcoin, the most blue-chip of all cryptocurrency investments, declined by approximately 36% between March 2022 and today."
17.683 Mackenzie also says that Tether "has invested $62.8 million of the reserves into Celsius Network."
17.684 "Celsius is in free-fall due to the current market dislocation; the value of their native token is down by over 86% since their Series B. Clearly, that investment has suffered more than $20 million in impairment. Impairment of 1% of one line item on their balance sheet ate more than 10% of their equity, under assumptions which are extremely generous to Tether." -Patrick Mackenzie, "Tether Required Recapitalization in May 2022"
17.69 On 25 May 2022, "Celsius Network fails to post its regular, weekly report of its assets." -Protos, "A complete timeline of Celsius' relationship with Terra LUNA and Tether"
17.7 On 13 June 2022, Celsius Network pauses withdrawals.
17.71 "We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations."
17.711 "It is due to extreme market conditions."
17.72 "On July 13, 2022, Celsius and several of its affiliates commenced voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York."
17.73 Paolo Ardoino posts a thread about hedge funds attacking Tether.
17.74 The Wall Street Journal reports that Leon Marshall, head of institutional sales at Genesis Global Trading, claims that traditional hedge funds shorted Tether through his brokerage. Marshall said that the relevant trades involved “hundreds of millions” of dollars in value.
17.75 By 26 July 2022, Tether supply is down to 65.849 billion.
17.751 "Today, Tether announced that it has eliminated commercial paper from its reserves, replacing these investments with U.S. Treasury Bill (T-Bills)." -Tether press release
17.752 Tether tweets: "Tether has eliminated over $30 billion dollars of commercial paper without any losses, a proof of how Tethers’ reserves are conservatively and professionally managed. Tether has also increased its direct exposure to US Treasuries by more than $10 billion in the last quarter."
17.753 Paolo Ardoino adds that Tether "proved to be the only company to be able to pay 7B in 48 hours = 10% reserves, peak at 20B = 25% of reserves in 30 days. Ask your bank or other stablecoins if they can do that, in same time frame of course. Paper != Facts 🦗 🦗 🦗"
17.8 "SCOOP: Sam Bankman-Fried's @AlamedaResearch had $14.6 billion of assets as of June 30, according to a private document CoinDesk reviewed. Much of it is the $FTT token issued by @FTX_Official, another SBF company." Ian Allison, Coindesk
17.81 "There is people coming to me about alameda insolvency shit. I'm pushing back and say its BS. However seems to grow a bit those FUD." -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in Tether, Deltec, FTX, Alameda group telegram channel
17.811 "To be clear: #Tether does not have any exposure to FTX or Alameda. 0. Null." -Paolo Ardoino
17.82 Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, tweets "Due to recent revelations that have came to light, we have decided to liquidate any remaining FTT on our books."
17.821 Changpeng Zhao also tweets: "We typically hold tokens for the long term. And we have held on to this token for this long. We stay transparent in our actions."
17.8211 And also: "we don't pretend to make love after divorce."
17.8212 &emsp: And: "We won't support people who lobby against other industry players behind their backs. Onwards."
17.8213 "That was not a good strategic move on my part." Sam Bankman-Fried
17.83 On 8 November 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried tweets: "Things have come full circle, and http://FTX.com’s first, and last, investors are the same: we have come to an agreement on a strategic transaction with Binance for http://FTX.com (pending DD etc.)."
17.831 Five minutes later Changpeng Zhao tweets: "This afternoon, FTX asked for our help. There is a significant liquidity crunch. To protect users, we signed a non-binding LOI, intending to fully acquire http://FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch. We will be conducting a full DD in the coming days."
17.84 On 9 November 2022 Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison says "she, Mr. Bankman-Fried and two other FTX executives, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, were aware of the decision to send customer funds to Alameda."
17.841 "Her voice shaking, she apologized, saying she had let the group down. Over recent months, she said, Alameda had taken out loans and used the money to make venture capital investments, among other expenditures. Around the time the crypto market crashed this spring, Ms. Ellison explained, lenders moved to recall those loans, the person familiar with the meeting said. But the funds that Alameda had spent were no longer easily available, so the company used FTX customer funds to make the payments." -David Yaffe-Bellany, "How Sam Bankman-Fried's Crypto Empire Collapsed, New York Times
17.842 "MONEY PARTY THE BEST PARTY" -Gregory Pepin, Deputy CEO, Deltec Bank & Trust, in Alameda, FTX, and Deltec group telegram channel
17.843 Later that day, Changpeng Zhao messages on Signal: “Sam, I’m sorry, but we won’t be able to continue this deal. Way too many issues. CZ.”
17.8431 "I shouldn’t throw stones in a glass house, so I’ll hold back a bit,” he said in a message to employees obtained by The Times. “Except to say: probably they never really planned to go through with the deal." -Sam Bankman-Fried
17.8432 And tweets: "Sad day. Tried, but 😭"
17.85 "Mr. Bankman-Fried scrambled to line up new financing." -David Yaffe-Bellany, "How Sam Bankman-Fried's Crypto Empire Collapsed, New York Times
17.851 Paolo Ardoino says "He contacted us and asked for economic help. He didn't disclose details or exactly how much he needed, but we categorically refused."
17.852 "He suddenly asked for something that he had never asked for before, and he wasn’t talking about $10 million. The way he was talking suggested that he had a big issue. His request was in the billions." Paolo Ardoino, attributed by Steven Ehrlich and Nina Bambysheva, "Inside Tether, Crypto's (So Far) Unbreakable Buck", Forbes
17.86 On 11 November 2022 FTX and Alameda research (as well as more than 130 affiliates) file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
17.861 FTX tweets "Press Release" and an image of a statement that says "FTX Group Companies Commence Voluntary Chapter 11 Proceedings in the United States Begin Orderly Process to Review and Monetize Assets for Benefit of Global Stakeholders John J. Ray III Appointed Chief Executive Officer; Sam Bankman-Fried Resigns"
17.862 Sam Bankman-Fried says: "It could be worse."
17.863 Changpeng Zhao says: "We did not master plan this or anything related to this."
17.864 Changpeng Zhao says: "Never use a token you created as collateral."
17.87 Tether posts “FTX, Black Swans, and Tether’s Continued Stability” on their blog.
17.871 "We would like to confirm that at this time, Tether has absolutely no credit towards FTX or Alameda Research. Tether is completely unexposed to Alameda Research or FTX." -Tether blog
17.872 "While the situation with FTX has caught many people by surprise given their reputation and size, FTX is not indicative of the practices of all substantial players in the industry." -Tether blog
17.873 "FTX did not provide any services to or hold any assets for the Bank. Deltec Bank does not hold or trade any digital assets for its own account or on behalf of its clients. Therefore, there is no credit or asset exposure by the Bank to FTX." -Deltec Bank & Trust
17.88 Patrick McKenzie publishes "Tether's Troubles in November 2022"
17.881 "The Consolidated Reserves Report alleges assets of $68,061,618,458 and liabilities of $67,811,510,720. This implies approximately $250 million in equity, via standard balance sheet math. $250 million was their margin of safety between September 30th and today." -Patrick McKenzie
17.882 "I do not know whether Tether had anything in exchanges which folded this week, but it is an incontrovertible historical fact, in both slow databases and public reporting, that Alameda Research was historically their single largest counterparty. Alameda has been vaporized." -Patrick McKenzie
17.883 The Securities Commission of The Bahamas freezes FTX assets and appoints provisional liquidator.
17.89 "1) What" -Sam Bankman-Fried
17.9 Tether publishes "WSJ & CO: The Hypocrisy of Mainstream Media, Asleep at the Wheel of Information" on their blog.
17.91 "Calling FTX a bank run is either the height of ignorance or amounts to political cover by media outlets who spent the last two years writing hagiographies of Sam Bankman-Fried and would have a tremendous amount of egg on their faces if they were to admit the reality of the situation." -Tether blog
17.911 "FTX didn't just lend out customer deposits and was unable to recall the loans in a timely manner. It used them to engage in a series of increasingly risky bets and suffered losses. The money might be lost, but time will tell. That is what raised the customer concerns." -Tether blog
17.912 "Moreover, while CoinDesk has been focused for years on Tether, including trying to access Tether's private reporting to the New York Attorney General, in the name of transparency, it failed to ask for the same transparency from its own owner." -Tether blog
17.913 "Yes, CoinDesk is owned by DCG. And yes, DCG is also an investor in Circle, a direct competitor to Tether." -Tether blog
17.915 "It looks like "everyone" was wrong!" -Tether blog
17.92 On 13 November 2022, Stacy Herbert posts pictures of Paolo Ardoino and Max Keiser embracing on the tarmac in El Salvador.
17.17.921 "Best welcome ever 🇸🇻🇸🇻🇸🇻🇸🇻🇸🇻" -Paolo Ardoino
https://twiiit.com/austerity_sucks/status/860747763801346048