The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hit crypto exchange Bitfinex and Tether—the firm behind the stablecoin Tether— for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act, or CEA, and of a prior CFTC order.
What Happened
According to a Friday CFTC press release, the regulator found that Tether backed its stablecoin only for 27.6 percent of the time during the 26-month period under review between 2016 and 2018. Tether is required to pay a civil monetary penalty of $41 million and cease and desist from any further violations of CFTC regulations.The regulators found Bitfinex to also be in violation and requires it to pay a $1.5 million civil monetary penalty and prohibits it from further violations. The firm will also be required to implement and maintain additional systems designed to prevent unlawful transactions.
