2024

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Bitcoin

Financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald reportedly owns a 5% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether, which could position the company to receive more political support from the incoming Trump administration.
The 5% stake was valued at as much as $600 million when the agreement was made, WSJ <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/howard-lutnick-giancarlo-devisini-tether-cryptocurrency-3d0a961c" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> in the Nov. 24 report, citing information from business associates familiar with the matter.
It could mean Tether will receive more political support as Cantor Fitzgerald’s CEO <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-commerce-secretary-howard-lutnick-crypto" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/trump-commerce-secretary-howard-lutnick-crypto">Howard Lutnick was selected </a>as United States President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of commerce on Nov. 19.
Giancarlo Devasini, suspected to be the largest shareholder of Tether, reportedly said words to the effect of: Lutnick will use his political clout to try to defuse threats facing Tether, WSJ claimed.&nbsp; 
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 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/NateGeraci/status/1860521255050363319" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/NateGeraci/status/1860521255050363319">Nate Geraci</a>
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Lutnick is already working closely with Trump as one of his transition advisers. He has been vetting candidates for other top government jobs that could involve supervising Tether, WSJ noted.
Lutnick said he would step down as Cantor Fitzgerald’s CEO upon Senate confirmation.
It follows reports that the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has been <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-government-investigates-tether-report" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-government-investigates-tether-report">investigating whether Tether</a> is being used by third parties for illicit activities, such as terrorism financing.
Cantor Fitzgerald has been one of Tether’s most important banking partners at a time when the stablecoin issuer has been cut off by many banks around the world.
The Lutnick-led firm holds most of Tether’s (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/tether-price-index" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">USDT</a>) $134 billion of reserves, mainly in US Treasury bills.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tether-launches-open-source-wallet-development-kit-humans-and-ai" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Tether launches open-source wallet development kit for humans and AI</a>
Lutnick has publicly<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cantor-fitzgerald-head-tether-reserves-they-have-money" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"> expressed confidence</a> in Tether’s financial health several times and highlighted the important role that a US dollar-backed stablecoin can play for people in high-inflation countries like Argentina, Turkey and Venezuela.
He also announced Cantor Fitzgerald’s new <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cantor-fitzgerald-announces-2b-bitcoin-financing-business" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitcoin lending program</a> at the Bitcoin 2024 conference back in July.
“We will offer leverage to those who own Bitcoin. We are going to launch with $2 billion of lending,” Lutnick said at the time.
Cantor Fitzgerald currently holds around $3.5 billion worth of assets, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://fintel.io/i/cantor-fitzgerald" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">according</a> to Fintel data. Lutnick said Wednesday he will step down from his position at Cantor. Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/unstable-coins-de-pegging-bank-runs-other-risks-2023/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom</a>

Cantor Fitzgerald agrees took 5% stake in Tether for up to $600M: Report

Cointelegraph

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