Howard Lutnick, President Donald Trump’s nominees to be a trade secretary, draws control of his relationship with Tether from Senator Elizabeth Warren – the ranking Democrat of the Senate Bank Committee and one of the congress’s most reliable critics of digital assets.
As CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, Wall Street company, which acts as the US banker to lead Global StableCOin issuer, Massachusetts -Democrat said Lutnick supported a crypto operation with “clear ties to criminal activity.”
“You played a critical role in the rise of Tether, a shady crypto company with surplus over 7.7 billion cabinet.
As Tether’s US Treasuries Dealer and the most important custodian for her treasury reserves, she suggested Lutnick’s company shares responsibility for illegal abuse of its stablecoin (USDT) of criminals and terrorists. She also claimed that Cantor Fitzgerald owns part of Tether, although Lutnick on Wednesday testified that the company has a convertible bond but not a direct equity share.
“The use of Tether’s StableCoin has been the subject of over 150 studies across four continents, including here with the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury,” Warren wrote to Lutnick, who led Trump’s transition team as he returned to the White House .
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has tried to defend his business’s reputation and said of the political increase in Lutnick, “We don’t expect any political favors of anyone.”
Lutnick said in the confirmation hearing that he supports major US audit requirements for stablecoin issuers.
Read more: Howard Lutnick: Tether’s Big Backer
