According to a recent report by Protos, leading companies in the crypto industry, Alameda Research and Cumberland, have purchased a significant portion of Tether (USDT). These two companies have impressively bought back 70% of the USDT issued by the company since its inception in 2014.
Alameda Research’s Wealth in Tether
One of the most confusing aspects about Tether is that Alameda Research, founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried and closely related to FTX, is the largest bidder for USDT. Over the past 7 years, they have purchased a total of 36.7 billion USDT from Tether’s treasury.
What makes this event even more interesting is that a large portion of the mentioned amount (86% or 31.7 billion USDT) occurred in the last year. This sheds light on the strong structure of Tether and the high demand it has experienced. The report also reveals which exchanges the purchased USDT funds were transferred to from Alameda Research.
When examining the exchanges, FTX stands out. It is at the top of the list with 30.1 billion USDT provided by Alameda Research. It is followed by Binance, Huobi, and OKEx, which are among the most important exchanges for USDT.
The second company mentioned in the report is Cumberland. Currently, the company is the second-largest holder of USDT. Cumberland has purchased a total of 23.7 billion USDT from Tether since 2014. Like Alameda, a significant portion of this purchase occurred last year. The mentioned amount covers 74% of the total purchase, which is equivalent to 17.6 billion USDT. Another noteworthy point in the disclosed report is Cumberland’s close relationship with Binance exchange.
Tether Under Scrutiny
Tether, ranked third in the market with a value close to $74.44 billion, is currently under regulatory supervision and scrutiny due to concerns about transparency. Tether has faced penalties in the past. The company received a $41 million fine from the US CFTC for violating the Commodity Exchange Act by providing false information about its reserves.
Additionally, Bloomberg compared Tether to a Ponzi scheme. There have been suspicions about the use of its reserves and claims that it facilitates short-term financing for Chinese companies.
