🚨NEW from me: Offshore stablecoin giant @Tether_to is working with U.S. lawmakers to influence how these fiat-backed currencies are regulated in the U.S. The issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT has been a controversial figure in U.S. crypto policy circles due to an alleged lack of transparency. Critics say the company has never received a full audit, instead opting to provide quarterly assessments of its financial books from global accounting firm BDO. Stablecoins are a type of digital asset backed by a hard asset, such as U.S. dollars or treasury bills. Commanding around 60% of the 230 billion stablecoin market, Tether has also become one of the largest holders of U.S. debt in the world with over 114 billion of short-term Treasury bills in its reserves. As Congress works to create legislation that will set a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the U.S., Tether's CEO @paoloardoino tells me the company is now actively engaging with top lawmakers on how to best shape the law. “We are going to work within the regulatory framework, and we are going to try to advise on every single one of these field proposals to make sure that our voice is heard,” said Ardoino, referring to the three stablecoin bills introduced last week in the House and Senate. He also says the company will comply with the law however it turns out.  "We are not going to just throw in the towel and let Tether die just for the sake of not adapting to U.S. legislation," he added. "But there is still a lot of uncertainty over what's actually going to happen, and we want our voice to be heard in the legislative process.” Congressman @RepBryanSteil, chairman of the @FinancialCmte Digital Assets Subcommittee, confirmed to @FoxBusiness that Tether has been engaging on the discussion draft of the STABLE Act introduced by himself and Congressman French Hill last week. Two other stablecoin bills from Republican @SenatorHagerty and Democratic Congresswoman @RepMaxineWaters were also introduced. The GOP-controlled House and Senate are aiming to get a bill signed into law by President Trump as early as April. For Tether, compliance with proposed regulations would require the company to submit to a full monthly audit by a U.S. accounting firm and maintain one-to-one reserves with assets that are pre-approved by regulators. @CGasparino