Circle and Tether Respond to Rumors

In the cryptocurrency sector, rumors began to appear that Tether and Circle, the market’s largest stablecoin issuers, are linked to FTX and Alameda.

Responding quickly to these rumors, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, while making statements on Twitter, said that his company has not entered into a credit relationship with FTX or Alameda, and Circle has no FTT collateral. Additionally, Allaire acknowledged that Circle is a minor shareholder in FTX, and said Circle also has underrated stakes in Kraken, Coinbase, and BinanceUS.

Tether’s Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino was also quick to respond to the rumors. Ardoino also said that he has no commercial relations with FTX and Alameda. The statements came after Colin Wu, a popular crypto reporter on Twitter, said that after Binance’s decision to acquire FTX, both Circle and Tether should disclose whether they are in a commercial relationship with the respective companies.

Rumors arose that large amounts of USDC were transferred from Circle to FTX, according to Blockchain data in the last 48 hours. In addition, it is known that Alameda received significant amounts of USDT from Tether in the past. Tether’s Chief Technology Officer, in his statement, confirmed that Alameda has a demand for USDT according to customer demands, while underlining that fixed asset issuances are not made on credit.

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire likened the FTX crisis to the Lehman Brothers collapse, the major bankruptcy event in banking history, before reporting that USDC was unaffected by the current crisis.