The company behind the USDT stablecoin has strongly refuted a lawsuit filed by Celsius Network, dismissing it as a baseless attempt to shift blame for Celsius’ financial mismanagement.
The lawsuit revolves around a disputed 2022 agreement in which Celsius alleges that Tether wrongfully liquidated $2.4 billion worth of Bitcoin. Tether has labeled the lawsuit as a meritless shakedown.
Celsius blaming Tether
The legal battle comes from an agreement made in 2022 when Tether provided USDT to Celsius, backed by Bitcoin as collateral.
By June of that year, as Bitcoin’s price plummeted, Celsius faced a margin call, requiring them to provide additional collateral to avoid the liquidation of their Bitcoin holdings by Tether.
According to Tether, Celsius chose not to provide the necessary collateral and instead directed Tether to liquidate the Bitcoin to settle an $815 million USDT debt.
Tether shared that this decision was made with Celsius’s full knowledge and agreement, contradicting Celsius’s current claims.
Financial mismanagement or something else?
Tether argues that Celsius’s lawsuit misrepresents both the law and the facts of their original agreement.
The stablecoin issuer maintains that Celsius is attempting to deflect responsibility for its own financial failures by targeting Tether.
The company believes that this legal action is an attempt to unjustly hold them accountable for decisions that were entirely within Celsius’s control.
“Rather than acknowledge the clear terms of the agreement made well before Celsius’ bankruptcy, this lawsuit seeks to unfairly burden Tether with the consequences of Celsius’ mismanagement.”
Contracts and agreements
Tether has vowed to defend itself in court, expressing confidence that the outcome will be in their favor.
They have stated their commitment to resisting what they view as shameless litigation money grabs and plan to present evidence demonstrating that Celsius had agreed to the liquidation process.
