Over-hyped PR forces Tether and Bitfinex to pay millions in civil penalties

As the cryptocurrency market grows, so too do the regulation efforts surrounding it. In October of 2021, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order simultaneously filing and settling charges against Tether Holdings Limited, and its subsidiaries, for making untrue or misleading statements in connection with the U.S. dollar Tether token (USDT) stable-coin, a type of cryptocurrency.

The order requires Tether to pay a civil monetary penalty of $41 million and to cease and desist from any further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations.

In addition, on that same day in October 2021, the CFTC also issued a separate order simultaneously filing and settling charges against iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc., and BFXWW Inc. in connection with their operation of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency trading platform.

The order found that Bitfinex engaged in illegal, off-exchange retail commodity transactions on the Bitfinex trading platform and operated without registering as required.

Bitfinex was required to pay a $1.5 million civil monetary penalty and is required to implement and maintain systems designed to prevent unlawful retail commodity transactions.

“This case highlights the expectation of honesty and transparency in the rapidly growing and developing digital assets marketplace,” said Acting Chairman Rostin Behnam. “The CFTC will continue to take decisive action to bring to light untrue or misleading statements that impact CFTC jurisdictional markets.”

Any brand like Bitfinex that deals in highly sophisticated industries like cryptocurrency needs a public relations firm that can understand the regulations of the industry and how to launch effective and honest PR campaigns that build and protect their brand.

If you are working in a highly regulated arena and need knowledgeable, proactive PR representation, contact Repute PR to learn more about how we can help you build and protect your brand today.

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