The second amended complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Monday, accuses Tether and its sister crypto exchange Bitfinex of operating a “sophisticated scheme to artificially inflate the price of cryptocurrencies” by pushing Tether’s dollar-backed stablecoin, USDT, into the cryptomarket without it being fully backed by U.S. dollars, therefore “creating the illusion of increased demand” for cryptocurrencies, “facilitating trading of [cryptocurrencies] on credit and loaned funds” and ultimately driving up crypto prices.
