Tether Fraud, Antitrust Case Advances Against Issuers, Exchanges

DigFinex Inc., which oversees the “tether” cryptocurrency through a web of affiliates, lost its bid to sidestep federal antitrust litigation in Manhattan over an alleged scheme to create a crypto “bubble” using “shadow bankers,” manipulative trades, and lies about the nature of the tether “stablecoin.”

Judge Katherine Polk Failla let the lawsuit move forward Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where a group of crypto traders brought antitrust, fraud, and market manipulation claims against DigFinex, its top executives, its key subsidiaries, and its Panama-based bankers.

The proposed class action, filed in 2019, targets ...