Deltec Chairman Says Tether Letter on Bank Relationship Is 'Authentic'

The chairman of Deltec Bank & Trust says a widely scrutinized letter about stablecoin issuer Tether's account at the Bahamas-based institution is "Authentic."

The letter, which Tether published Nov. 1, stated - albeit with a prominent disclaimer - that the company held an account at the bank, and that the account's balance as of Oct. 31 was over $1.8 billion, enough to back all the USDT tokens in circulation 1-for-1.

As CoinDesk and Bloomberg reported, Deltec would not initially confirm the relationship with Tether.

In a subsequent conversation on Nov. 1, Deltec chairman Jean Chalopin shared a link to the letter with CoinDesk, saying "Tether came public with an announcement and I wanted to make sure you saw it."

"The letter published by Tether is authentic."

Chalopin's confirmation means that for the first time in months, Tether's banking relationship is public knowledge and has been confirmed by the banking partner in question.

In early 2017 Tether and Bitfinex - a cryptocurrency exchange with shareholders and executives in common with Tether - lost access to Taiwanese banks after Wells Fargo cut off correspondent banking services for the Taiwanese banks, due to their relationship with Tether.

A relationship with the Puerto Rico-based Noble Bank reportedly followed, though neither Tether nor Noble ever publicly confirmed the relationship.

Addressing the letter Tether posted to its site, Chalopin explained, "In the present case, since Tether came public with our letter, the only thing I can do is to confirm that the letter published by Tether is authentic."

The letter itself contains language apparently intended to minimize Deltec's exposure to potential legal challenges: "This letter is provided without any liability, however arising, on the part of Deltec Bank & Trust Limited, its officers, directors, employees and shareholders, and is solely based on the information currently in our possession."