Crypto firms Tether, Bitfinex to pay $42.5 million to settle U.S. CFTC charges

FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

(Reuters) -Cryptocurrency Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex will pay $42.5 million to settle civil charges from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over allegedly making misleading statements and making illegal transactions.

Firms doing business as Tether agreed to pay $41 million to resolve CFTC charges they made misleading claims about Tether's cryptocurrency stablecoin, the CFTC said in a statement on Friday. According to the regulator, at various times from June 2016 to late February 2019, Tether made misleading or untrue statements about whether it held sufficient U.S. dollar reserves to fully back up its U.S. dollar tether token.