Tether, one of the world’s most traded cryptocurrencies, has become a key tool for criminals, money launderers and scammers, according to a United Nations report published Monday, amid intensifying legal and regulatory scrutiny over how digital assets are being used to aid illicit activity.
Tether has fast become the platform of choice for money laundering and fraud operations across East and Southeast Asia, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned in a report on organized crime and illicit banking in the region.
Tether, which did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment, is a company that runs a blockchain platform and issues digital tokens pegged to real-world currencies with the backing of its own financial reserves, most notably USDT, or tether, which is tied to the U.S. dollar one-for-one.
The agency said tether’s stability, ease of use, anonymity and low transaction fees has helped the digital token become a “preferred choice” for fraudsters and money launderers alike and intelligence agencies across the region say tether ranks “among the most popular cryptocurrencies” used by organized crime groups.
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Curated by Arun