Tony Edward, the host of the Thinking Crypto podcast, pushes back on negative rumors surrounding the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, Tether.
Yesterday, Edward slammed critics spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) about Tether, calling them paid actors, engagement farmers, and uninformed commentators.
He defended Tether’s credibility by citing evidence of its ongoing expansion in the United States and its connections with prominent financial figures, including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
A month before this verification, Tether, alongside Cantor Fitzgerald and SoftBank, launched Twenty One Capital, a Bitcoin investment company. The investment company made its debut with a whopping 42,000 BTC valued at around $3.6 billion at the time.
Further, Edward recounted that U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino at the White House Digital Asset Summit. Notably, the stablecoin giant further enhanced its credibility by appointing former White House Crypto Council director Bo Hines as an advisor.
Tether Appoints Former White House Crypto Council Executive Director Bo Hines as Strategic Advisor for Digital Assets and U.S. Strategy
Read more: https://t.co/N4ZXMU5181
— Tether (@Tether_to) August 19, 2025
Based on these events, Edward stressed that the FUDs about Tether reserves are baseless and financially motivated.
Controversies Surrounding Tether
For context, Tether has long been a major topic of debate in crypto circles. Many skeptics, including Justin Bons of Cyber Capital, question whether Tether’s USDT stablecoin is fully backed 1:1 by U.S. dollar reserves.
These concerns soared in 2021 after the U.S. CFTC slammed a $42 million fine against Tether for providing misleading statements about the reserves backing its USDT stablecoin.
Additionally, the company’s initial decision to publish only an attestation of its USDT reserves in 2021, rather than a full independent audit, fueled further skepticism. In response, Tether partnered with prominent accounting firm BDO Global in 2022 to begin publishing quarterly reports on its financial reserves.
Tether’s Q2 2025 report shows that the company’s total assets exceed its liabilities. According to the report, Tether has a total asset of $162.57 billion, with a liability of $157.1 billion.
At the moment, the company is considering hiring one of the big four accounting firms–KPMG, Ernst & Young (EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), or Deloitte–for a full financial audit, which will potentially address the concerns about its USDT reserve.