Tether was blackmailed for 500 Bitcoins, but refused to give in to hackers

The issuer of the USDT stablecoin said it had received a 500 BTC ransom demand with a deadline of Monday. Tether said it would never pay the money and had sought assistance from the relevant authorities.

Hackers are allegedly threatening to release sensitive documents of stablecoin issuer Tether unless it sends a ransom of 500 Bitcoin (BTC) to a designated address .

As revealed by Tether’s official Twitter account on Sunday, the hackers allegedly threatened to leak files that would “harm the Bitcoin ecosystem” if their demands were not met. Tether has already stated that it will not pay the ransom, which at press time is worth $23.8 million for 500 BTC. The company said on Twitter:

“Today we also received a request to send 500 BTC to the following address: bc1qa9f60pved3w3w0p7snpxlnh5t4uj95vxn797a7. The sender stated that unless they receive the BTC by tomorrow, they will leak the documents to the public, thereby ‘harming the Bitcoin ecosystem.’ We will not pay.”

The company said the extortionist’s motives were unclear, suggesting it could be a simple cash scam or part of a larger plan to undermine Tether and the rest of the bitcoin ecosystem.

“It’s unclear if this is a simple extortion scheme, like those targeting other crypto companies, or if someone is looking to damage Tether and the entire crypto community,” the company said on Twitter. “In either case, those planning to harm Tether are getting desperate.”

Tether may have thought the worst of its troubles were over after reaching a settlement in a landmark case brought against the company by the New York Attorney General’s Office. Ending the legal uncertainty surrounding Tether over the past few years, the company was ordered to pay an $18.5 million fine and file regular reserve reports. The company stressed that it did not admit any wrongdoing following the New York court’s decision.

On Sunday, Tether warned its customers that forged documents were circulating on the internet purporting to be authentic communications between Tether and representatives of Deltec Bank and Trust Company.

“PSA: There are fake documents circulating online purporting to be between @tether_to personnel and representatives of Deltec Bank and Trust Company, among others. These documents are all fake.”

The Twitter and Twitter accounts that posted the documents have since been deleted, though discussion surrounding the posts can still be found on Reddit.

Now, Tether will seek help from authorities regarding what it considers a “rather pathetic extortion attempt.” The company said on Twitter:

"While we believe this is a very deplorable extortion attempt, we take it seriously. We have reported the forged communications and associated ransom demands to law enforcement. As always, we will fully support law enforcement in their investigation of this extortion scheme."

Since then, the deadline for Tether to pay a 500 BTC ransom has passed. Speaking to Cointelegraph, a Tether representative reiterated that the documents were fake. They said that a copy of the ransom content had been turned over to law enforcement and the company did not know the identity of the blackmailer. (Cointelegraph)