The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is facing a defamation lawsuit in the Delaware Superior Court over an article published in February 2023 that implicated Tether and Bitfinex in alleged illegal activities related to cryptocurrencies. Christopher Harborne and his company, AML Global, filed the lawsuit against Dow Jones and Company, the parent entity of the WSJ.
The lawsuit, filed on February 28, accuses the WSJ of falsely accusing Harborne and AML Global of “committing fraud, laundering money, and financing terrorists” in the published article. Harborne, who holds a nearly 13% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether, claims that the accusations are baseless and that the WSJ possessed documentation proving their falsity.
The controversial article, which claimed that Bitfinex was resorting to dubious means to maintain global banking access in late 2018, has been a subject of contention. It asserted that the company used “shadowy intermediaries, falsified documents, and shell companies” to regain access. The article also detailed Harborne’s involvement and AML Global’s application for a Signature Bank account, but this content has been removed since February 21, 2024, with an editor’s note added.
Tether, despite the controversy, experienced significant growth in 2023, gaining over $20 billion in market value while competitors faced concerns about contagion effects from the U.S. financial system. The stablecoin reported a net profit of $2.85 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, attributed largely to passive income from U.S. Treasury securities backing its reserves. Paolo Ardonio, CEO of Tether, dismissed the 2023 article as a “clown article” that would only contribute to the company’s growth. The lawsuit against WSJ now awaits legal proceedings as the crypto industry continues to navigate the intersection of media scrutiny and legal challenges.
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