The Tether stablecoin is backed in some part by bitcoins. David Miller, an attorney for Tether’s sister firm, cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, revealed in court last week that Tether has invested “a small amount” of the reserve dollars backing the tethers (USDt) in bitcoins (BTC). He added that the company had also invested in other undescribed assets.

Fake Tethers under fake bitcoins. It's an illustration of what may be happening (Photo via Shutterstock).