Tether executives said to be target of federal criminal investigation - Bloomberg

Justice Department prosecutors are digging into whether Tether executives years ago hid from banks that transactions were linked to cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.The investigation takes aim at the world's most popular stablecoin, which backs more than half of all Bitcoin trades. Stablecoins are designed to avoid the volatility that cryptocurrencies are susceptible to; In tether's case, the tokens are backed by U.S. dollars. Tether (USDT-USD) has ~$62B of digital tokens in circulation.A decision on whether to to bring a case against the Tether executives could be made soon, Bloomberg said, citing notices recently sent to individuals that are targets of the probe.The development comes as U.S. regulators are taking a closer look at stablecoins. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren in June said Tether and stablecoins are among "financial stability challenges" the central bank is monitoring.In February, Bitfinex and tether settled an investigation by the New