Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have demanded answers from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino after reports that Tether loaned funds to a trust benefiting Lutnick’s children.
The lawmakers’ letter, sent this week, follows a Bloomberg report that Lutnick transferred his stake in financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald to his four children in October 2025 to comply with federal ethics rules. According to the report, Tether provided an undisclosed loan a day later to “Dynasty Trust A,” a trust for which Lutnick’s children are beneficiaries.
Warren and Wyden said the alleged transaction raises “serious questions” about Lutnick’s relationship with Tether and called for documentation to ensure the firm has not “sought to bribe or otherwise exert control or influence” over the Commerce secretary. The senators noted that concerns are heightened because Tether secured what they describe as “favorable treatment” under the GENIUS Act in July 2025 — legislation that, for the first time, provided U.S. regulatory clarity for stablecoin issuers.
Decrypt has reached out to Tether for comment; neither Lutnick nor the Department of Commerce has publicly responded to the reports.
The inquiry lands amid longstanding scrutiny of Tether and the wider stablecoin sector. Senator Warren has repeatedly criticized the GENIUS Act and the industry, arguing last year that the bill “lacks basic safeguards necessary to ensure that stablecoins don’t blow up our entire financial system.” She has also warned about risks such as money laundering, fraud, and weak consumer protections.
Tether’s regulatory record includes a $41 million CFTC penalty in 2021 for “untrue or misleading statements” about its USDT reserves, and reporting in October 2024 that the company was the subject of a federal criminal probe into possible sanctions and anti-money-laundering violations. Separately, political ties between crypto figures and public officials have drawn attention globally: billionaire Christopher Harborne, who reportedly holds a 12% stake in Tether, recently made headlines over a previously undisclosed $6.7 million gift to British politician Nigel Farage in 2024 and subsequent donations to Farage’s Reform UK party.
The senators’ request underscores growing concern in Washington about influence, transparency, and whether commercial relationships between stablecoin issuers and policymakers could shape decisions on crypto regulation.
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