Tether shareholder takes legal action against WSJ for defamation

Crypto News– The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is currently facing a defamation lawsuit regarding claims made in a 2023 article accusing Tether and Bitfinex of engaging in illegal activities.

Tether shareholder takes legal action against WSJ for defamation

The lawsuit was filed against Dow Jones & Company Inc. (the parent company of WSJ) on February 28 in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, New Castle County, by Christopher Harborne. Harborne, a Tether shareholder with a 13% stake in the crypto firm, filed the lawsuit through AML Global Ltd., which operates in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, and Wyoming.

Harborne clarified that he holds no executive positions at Tether or Bitfinex and acquired his stake solely through Bitfinex’s 2016 hack reimbursement plan. The February 2023 article alleged that “backers” of Bitfinex employed “shadowy intermediaries, falsified documents, and shell companies” to maintain banking access in late 2018 amid internal conflicts.

The lawsuit contends that the Journal and its reporters falsely accused Harborne and AML Global of fraud, money laundering, and financing terrorism, despite having documentation that purportedly disproves or challenges these accusations.

Despite these legal challenges, the Tether-issued USDT stablecoin has witnessed a market gain exceeding $20 billion in value, with Tether reporting a net profit of over $2.8 billion in Q4 2023. This sustained profitability is largely attributed to passive income from the US Treasury securities backing Tether’s reserves.