VanEck director defends Bitfinex and Tether amid lawsuit

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and its native stablecoin, Tether, have been under intense scrutiny over the past two years, with the New York Attorney General’s office (NYAG) gunning for the unregulated platform in July.

But now, a number of digital asset advocates have come out in support of Bitfinex and Tether, most notably VanEck director Gabor Gurbacs, who has called for the “witch hunt” to stop.

On Twitter, he wrote: “I am tired of hoodwink academics, hype-media, and uninformed lawyers discrediting the hard work and structural innovation that Tether and Bitfinex built. They built services for Bitcoin and crypto companies that others failed to provide. Stop the witch-hunt; protect innovation!”

He added that Tether “upgrades USD transfer speed and access” while being “compatible with banks and backed by banks”.

The ongoing Tether scandal reached a peak at the end of 2018 when concerns were raised over potential insolvency and difficult banking arrangements.

Tether remains the largest stablecoin by a considerable distance in terms of market cap. It is currently the fifth-largest cryptocurrency with a capitalisation of $4.1 billion.

It also regularly tops the ranking list in terms of daily trade volume, often exceeding $20 billion.

However, the regulatory scrutiny seems to keep rushing back to Bitfinex and Tether, with a class action lawsuit alleging that the companies have cost the crypto market $1.4 trillion.

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