crypto exchange Binance and its CEO’s acceptance of money laundering charges was the most talked about topic in the industry, a different transaction attracted attention. The revelation that billions of dollars of stablecoins were moving through company-owned wallets in the weeks before the lawsuit triggered much speculation.
It was noteworthy that the $ 3.9 billion Tether (USDT) transaction, completed on November 9, had a value very close to the $ 4.3 billion penalty that Binance agreed to pay as part of the settlement.
Most of the money was moved from one Binance cold wallet (Binance-Cold 2) to another wallet (Binance 3). The cold wallet currently holds $6.6 billion worth of funds, with $4 billion in USDT and the rest in various stablecoins such as Decentralized USD (USDD), USDC, and TrueUSD (TUSD).
The target wallet currently has $3.2 billion in assets, mostly the Tether (USDT) stablecoin. owner. Binance has previously described its cold wallets as responsible for holding the majority of company funds.
There are no details on whether the company will use these funds to offset the US government’s fine or whether the company plans to exchange USDT for US dollars or another fiat currency. The majority of the 88.3 billion USDT tokens currently in circulation are issued as TRC-20 tokens on the Tron blockchain. Tether has a checkered history and is a controversial but important player in the cryptocurrency market.
Binance moved $3.9 billion $USDT from its cold to hot wallets a few days ago.https://t.co/AY4gS9wlIS pic.twitter.com/QnnWKwChsC
NEWS CONTINUES BELOW— ChainArgos (@ChainArgos) November 13, 2023
Recently, Tether announced that it was cooperating with authorities to freeze $225 million believed to be linked to human trafficking. Tether, the largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, frequently comes to the fore with its problems.
how do the truthers react if the US government accepts $4b in USDT as payment for the fine
— nic 🌠 carter (@nic__carter) November 20, 2023
The USDT transfer occurred shortly before Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao agreed to pay a $1.8 billion fine related to federal criminal charges. The CFTC will pay an additional $2.5 billion, with $1.6 billion going to resolutions with FinCEN and OFAC.
As part of the settlement, Zhao admitted to the charges and resigned as CEO. The settlement closes years of investigations by US authorities into Binance’s regulatory compliance and anti-money laundering controls.