The renowned The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is facing a lawsuit because of an article it published about Tether and Bitfinex. In the article, WSJ accused the companies of illegal activities and, according to Tether and Bitfinex, that is not true at all. As a result, these parties now decide to sue the newspaper for defamation.
Newspapers like the WSJ must realize that they can damage companies with this and they cannot simply get away with it.
What is the reason for the lawsuit?
The article published by the newspaper in February 2023 claims that companies behind Bitfinex had difficulty gaining access to the global banking system in 2018.
Based on emails and documents, the WSJ claimed that companies behind Bitfinex created shadowy intermediaries and falsified documents to regain access to the banking system.
Christopher Harborne, who owns 13 percent of Tether, was portrayed in the article as a key player in this “criminal activity.” It is striking that on February 21, 2024, the part about Harborne was removed from the article.
Despite removing those passages, Harborne now decides to sue the WSJ. In the article he was linked to fraud, money laundering and other financial misery.
‘The more clown items, the more Tether grows’
Tether’s then Chief Technology Officer (CFO), Paolo Ardoino, who currently serves as CEO, was adamant about the publication of the WSJ in 2023. He called the article a “clown article” at the time and indicated that Tether only would grow faster thanks to this kind of nonsense.
The more clown articles the more tether grows. People understand that Tether is standing for freedom and inclusion. This is upsetting MSM.
Eventually holepunch will break media as well. 🕳🥊🍐🍐— Paolo Ardoino 🍐 (@paoloardoino) February 2, 2023
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“People understand that Tether stands for freedom in inclusion,” Paolo Ardoino continued. In fact, according to a company representative, Ardoino’s words were the company’s official response.
Tether to WSJ pic.twitter.com/ESGblkrO7b
— Paolo Ardoino 🍐 (@paoloardoino) February 2, 2023
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1621229425013526533%7Ctwgr%5E7a5538340b8210abc3a5ca061ee3d3910e2524db%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fonly-4-people-controlled-tether-holdings-as-of-2018-report
A few minutes before his slightly more detailed response, Ardoino published the above tweet, directly challenging the WSJ. It is increasingly looking like Tether has the truth on its side in this case, although that remains to be seen in the end.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.nl/nieuws/wsj-geconfronteerd-met-rechtszaak-wegens-laster-voor-tether-bitfinex-artikel
