Tether (USDT) CTO Paolo Ardoino posted a photo on Twitter that he claims shows one of Tether's power generation and Bitcoin mining facilities in Latin America.
The photo, which features a container with the “Tether Energy” logo, has sparked a lot of speculation and criticism by some members of the cryptocurrency community.
Some accused Ardoino of forging the photo using photoshop, while others questioned the facility's location and legitimacy. Ardoino responded to these allegations with a lengthy statement defending the photo and giving more details about Tether's energy and mining project.
According to Ardoino, Tether Energy is a new venture that aims to establish renewable energy generation and Bitcoin mining sites around the world in partnership with local companies. The CTO said that Tether believes Bitcoin mining should be as decentralized as possible geographically and respectful of the environment.
He also stressed that the photo is real and shows one of the control rooms at one of the sites currently under completion and soon to be operational. He said he didn't share the exact location to protect the privacy and security of the staff, and used a digital logo instead of a physical one for the same reason.
In other words, Ardoino accepted that the Tether logo was added later in the photo.
He also shared a 3D model of what the mining site will look like in a few months, expressing that everyone on the team is very excited and working hard to get the project started.
*Not investment advice.