Tether has uncovered a ransomware demand, with threat actors allegedly demanding 500 Bitcoin ($ 24 million).
At the weekend, the blockchain and cryptocurrency organization announced on Twitter that a request for payment had been made because documents had been leaked online that would “damage the Bitcoin ecosystem.”
There is 72 BTC stored in the wallet address associated with the inquiry at the time of writing.
Tether said the payment deadline is March 1st, but added, “We’re not paying.”
“It is unclear whether this is a basic blackmail scheme, as it is aimed at other crypto companies or at people who seek to undermine Tether and the crypto community at large,” says Tether. “In any case, those who want to harm Tether are becoming more and more desperate.”
The company also used the same thread to claim that online circulating documents allegedly showing dubious communications between employees of Tether, Deltec Bank & Trust and other parties are “forged”.
The unverified email screenshots appear to relate to Deltec in the Bahamas, which has a banking relationship with Tether, and a discussion about securing assets. Tether says the documents are “forged”.
In a separate tweet, Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether and Bitfinex said the main target of these alleged leaks was “to discredit #bitcoin and all #crypto”.
“While we think this is a pretty sad attempt at shakedown, we take it seriously,” commented Tether. “We reported the fake communications and the associated ransom demand to law enforcement agencies. As always, we will fully support law enforcement in their investigation of this extortion plan.”
Update 14.37 GMT: Tether informed ZDNet that the company did not know the identity of the person demanding the ransom and was “unable” to provide a copy of the ransom note “at this time”.
On other Tether news, the organization reached a $ 18.5 million settlement with the New York Attorney General to settle a case in which both Tether and Bitfinex were accused of covering a $ 850 million loss to have.
New York attorney general Letitia James accused the companies of “ruthlessly and unlawfully covering massive financial losses in order to keep their systems running and protect their bottom line,” adding that Tether claims that his virtual currency is at all fully covered by US dollars times was a lie. “
Tether did not admit wrongdoing but has agreed to reach an agreement. The gesture, the company said, “should be viewed as a measure of our desire to leave this behind and focus on our business.”
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