Ripple’s CEO Warns of Potential Tether Crisis Amid Controversial WSJ Report

In a recent podcast appearance, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse raised eyebrows when he predicted a potential "Black Swan event" involving Tether's flagship stablecoin, USDT.

This prediction came amidst reports from the Wall Street Journal suggesting troubling developments for the company. However, Tether’s CEO promptly dismissed these claims as “unequivocally false.”

During his May 2024 discussion with Chris Vasquez on the “World Class” podcast, Garlinghouse expressed his belief that the U.S. government would intensify scrutiny of Tether, coinciding with Ripple’s announcement of its new stablecoin, the Ripple U.S. Dollar (RLUSD).

He cited past events like the FTX collapse and the legal troubles of Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, as examples of unpredictable industry shifts, emphasizing that Black Swan events can emerge suddenly and unexpectedly.

In response to the WSJ’s report regarding a potential criminal investigation into Tether, CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the company consistently collaborates with law enforcement to thwart the misuse of USDT by illicit actors.

He asserted that Tether is not under investigation and characterized the article’s claims as wildly inaccurate. While the initial release of the WSJ report briefly dipped Bitcoin’s price to $66,000, the leading cryptocurrency quickly rebounded to surpass the $67,000 mark.

Alexander Stefanov