The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is facing a defamation lawsuit for claims made in a 2023 article involving Tether and Bitfinex.
Christopher Harborne, a Tether shareholder with a 13% stake, filed the lawsuit against Dow Jones & Company Inc. on February 28 in Delaware. Harborne asserts he has no executive role in Tether, having obtained his stake through Bitfinex’s 2016 hack reimbursement plan.
The article alleged illicit activities by Bitfinex “backers,” prompting Harborne to challenge the Journal’s accusations of fraud and money laundering.
Despite the legal battle, Tether’s USDT stablecoin gained over $20 billion in value, with a net profit of $2.8 billion in Q4 2023, driven by income from US Treasury securities.
Following an edit to the article on February 21, the WSJ clarified that it didn’t imply Harborne or AML withheld information during the account application process. The article’s impact on crypto regulatory perceptions remains significant, particularly amid concerns about contagion effects from traditional finance.
