Paolo Ardoino, the chief executive officer of stablecoin behemoth Tether, has taken aim at banking giant JPMorgan, claiming that its analysts are "salty" since they do not own the largest cryptocurrency.
"Tether analysts say that JPM does not have enough Bitcoin," he joked in a follow-up social media post.
This comes after JPMorgan suggested that Tether might have to liquidate various assets, including its vast Bitcoin holdings, in order to follow new stablecoin requirements that are under consideration in the U.S.
As much as 34% of Tether's reserves would be noncompliant under the STABLE bill, whose discussion draft was released last week.
The stablecoin giant's current Bitcoin holdings stand at a whopping $8 billion.
That said, some users have pointed out that Tether is overcollatoralized, and its Bitcoin holdings do not actually back the flagship stablecoin.
It is also worth noting that Tether, which has faced significant regulatory scrutiny in the U.S., is backed by Howard Lutnick, CEO of prominent financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
Lutnick was recently nominated to be the next U.S. Commerce secretary. His ties to Tether were mentioned during a recent confirmation hearing. Lutnick disclosed a convertible bond with the stablecoin giant while also denying that he would do "anything improper" when it comes to Tether.
The fact that Tether has such an important ally makes it less probable that it will be forced to liquidate its Bitcoin holdings.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
