Tether CTO denies exposure to FTX and Alameda after exchange’s forced sale

Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino said the world’s largest stablecoin issuer has no exposure to FTX or its sister firm Alameda Research after the crypto exchange was forced into a merger with rival Binance. 

“Tether does not have any exposure to FTX or Alameda,” Ardoino tweeted, adding: “0. Null. Maybe is time to look elsewhere. Sorry guys. Try again.”

Ardoino’s denial was responding to a tweet from crypto reporter Colin Wu that both Circle, the creator of the USDC stablecoin, and Tether should disclose their financial relationships with FTX and trading firm Alameda. 

Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, had earlier described the FTX insolvency crisis as a “Lehman Brothers moment” for crypto. He also said USDC is not affected by the crisis.

FTX shocked the crypto industry on Tuesday by announcing it would sell its non-U.S. assets to Binance. FTX’s FTT token had come under pressure after Changpeng Zhao, the larger exchange’s CEO, said Binance begin selling off its holdings. Zhao cited “recent revelations” for the decision to sell — seemingly in reference to a CoinDesk report that had revealed details of Alameda’s balance sheet.

Ardoino’s rebuttal of Wu’s accusations comes as the crypto industry looks for further contagion from FTX’s woes. He further clarified that Alameda had previously issued and redeemed “a lot” of tether, “but no credit exposure has been matured.” He explained that, “Tether is issued and redeemed upon market demand by our customers.”

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