Bloomberg: Tether once held securities issued by ICBC, CCB, and ABC

According to ChainCatcher news, citing documents released by the New York Attorney General reported by Bloomberg, Tether had included securities issued by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Agricultural Bank of China in its reserves for the stablecoin USDT, with the maturity dates of the relevant securities being in 2020 or 2021. The documents also show that Tether held securities issued by Deutsche Bank, Barclays Bank, and ArcelorMittal SA, among others. Additionally, Tether holds accounts in several banks in the Bahamas.

In October 2021, Bloomberg's investigation found that Tether's reserves actually included billions of dollars in short-term loans, with borrowers being Chinese companies, as well as large loans to the crypto platform Celsius Network. Tether also issued large loans to third parties through lending programs, with collateral including digital assets (such as Bitcoin or Ethereum) or securities.

At that time, Tether denied holding debt from the troubled China Evergrande Group but refused to disclose whether it held securities from other Chinese companies or issuers. Tether stated in July 2022 that it did not hold any Chinese commercial paper at that time. (Bloomberg)