Tether Sales Records Expose High-Risk Buyers Linked to Financial Crime

Tether's USDT sales records have raised concerns about the company's anti-money laundering (AML) practices. Between 2019 and 2020, Tether issued over $20 billion in new tokens, with some buyers linked to financial crime. The largest buyer was Alameda Research, a trading firm connected to FTX and co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried.

Alameda bought over 4.1 billion USDT directly from Tether during the period, but it's unclear whether these purchases were unlawful. However, Bankman-Fried later received a 25-year prison sentence for misappropriating over $8 billion in FTX customer funds.

The investigation also found that two Hong Kong companies, Lucky DC Trade and Tomorrow Good Limited, acquired over $113 million in USDT during the period. These companies were later linked to laundering cryptocurrency proceeds and obtaining banking access for a North Korean hacking and ransomware operation.