Tether operates USDT, a cryptocurrency asset that is backed by the US dollar. The company said that USD 30,950,010-worth of USDT was taken from its core treasury wallet “through malicious action by an external attacker.” Furthermore, the startup has flagged the tokens — meaning that it will track them and prevent the holder from exchanging them through its service, suspended the back-end wallet service for partners and announced it is working to recover the funds.
One of the partners that uses Tether is Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange, which itself lost 119,756 Bitcoin in a 2016 hack. As Coindesk reports, the incident is sure to throw up more questions about the relationship between Tether and the secretive exchange Bitfinex.
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