JPMorgan claimed that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a financial intelligence and enforcement agency affiliated with the US Treasury Department, could exercise control over Tether (USDT) even though it is not a US entity.
In a report published Thursday, a team of analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted that “US regulators may exercise some control over offshore use of Tether through OFAC.” They cited Tether's relationship with Tornado Cash, a privacy enhancement platform on the Ethereum network, as an example of this control.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino responded by suggesting that JPMorgan's concerns stemmed from jealousy over the development of financial and payment services. “JPMorgan's current concerns appear to be more about envy over the evolution of financial and payment services that they have ignored for a decade and now lament because it is getting so much attention,” Ardoino said.
Ardoino continued his words as follows:
“If I were them, I would be more concerned about their total fines of $39 billion.”
Earlier this month, Ardoino labeled JPMorgan a “hypocrite” when he noted that the increasing concentration of JPMorgan Tether was negative for cryptocurrency markets.
*This is not investment advice.