3 ms·

Sounds like they're offering to bribe an insider to disclose specifics about the "commercial paper"[1], which is presumably how a company like Tether would make

Sounds like they're offering to bribe an insider to disclose specifics about the "commercial paper"[1], which is presumably how a company like Tether would make most of its money. That is, taking advantage of the time-value of money over short periods of time (< 30 days) with large quantities of money (tranches of $100k) at a time, reserves which any marketplace would naturally have on hand. Note that Tether looks shady at first blush, with a link to "Proof of Transparency"[2] that is content-free. I also find it sus that their job listings only list "Business Development Specialist" [3]. Is it illegal for a private person to offer to pay someone to illegally snitch on an illegal operation? Do two illegal things cancel out? 1 - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/commercialpaper.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/commercialpaper.asp 2 - https://tether.to/latest-assurance-opinion-confirms-tether-fully-backed/ https://tether.to/latest-assurance-opinion-confirms-tether-f... 3 - https://tether.recruitee.com/ https://tether.recruitee.com/

Gortal278 5y ago
It doesn't have to be an insider
- arthurcolle 5y ago
  it's a very small group of people with pretty well-known dubious banking connections. I won't rehash it but the CEO of their main bank is some rando with pretty poor spelling. I doubt anyone beyond the inner circle (I guess maybe the exec assistant of the aforementioned rando might know something interesting) would know anything interesting.
JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> Is it illegal for a private person to offer to pay someone to illegally snitch on an illegal operation? It's not illegal to pay someone for information. If you induce them to violate an NDA, yes, it could be. But given the question "under what jurisdiction does Tether really operate" is a debatable question, I'd say it's probably risky but fine. (If you trade on that information, it could be a different story.)
- UncleOxidant 5y ago
  > If you induce them to violate an NDA, yes, it could be. Is violating an NDA illegal? I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV, but I don't think violating an NDA is illegal as in you could go to prison for violating a law. Yes, it could open you up to legal jeopardy as in a lawsuit which could be expensive, but I don't think any laws are violated. And if you're violating an NDA to expose some corrupt practices it seems like the NDA shouldn't hold any power.
  - javajosh 5y ago
    Never thought about this, but I guess you might be on the hook for fraud if you violated an agreement for profit. That is, an employee violating an NDA for profit might be considered committing fraud against their employer. It's strange - Tether seems shady but I don't think Hindenburg's offer is on firm ethical or legal ground. What if Hindenberg offered $1M for access to a private list of donors to a [prominent abortion rights organization]? But now that I think about it, why doesn't every successful private contract enforcement action end in a public prosecution for fraud?
    - IgorPartola 5y ago
      An NDA would be a civil matter, I would think. It is a remedy for monetary damages, right? Of course I have no idea if offering someone a large sum of money to violate any kind of contract is in any way illegal or even actionable in civil law since the person can always refuse the money and uphold their contract. If it made you criminally liable, wouldn’t every job offer to someone under contract with a competitor lend you in jail? IANAL so offer money to break NDAs at your own risk.
      - UncleOxidant 5y ago
        > Of course I have no idea if offering someone a large sum of money to violate any kind of contract Hindenburg isn't expressly offering the money for someone to break some contract or NDA. They're just offering money for information. Yes, the person with the information may have to break an NDA to share the information, but that doesn't seem like Hindenburg's problem. It's also possible that some insider with knowledge isn't under an NDA and would be willing to share information for $1M.

Gortal278 5y ago

It doesn't have to be an insider

arthurcolle 5y ago
it's a very small group of people with pretty well-known dubious banking connections. I won't rehash it but the CEO of their main bank is some rando with pretty poor spelling. I doubt anyone beyond the inner circle (I guess maybe the exec assistant of the aforementioned rando might know something interesting) would know anything interesting.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago

> Is it illegal for a private person to offer to pay someone to illegally snitch on an illegal operation? It's not illegal to pay someone for information. If you induce them to violate an NDA, yes, it could be. But given the question "under what jurisdiction does Tether really operate" is a debatable question, I'd say it's probably risky but fine. (If you trade on that information, it could be a different story.)

UncleOxidant 5y ago
> If you induce them to violate an NDA, yes, it could be. Is violating an NDA illegal? I'm not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV, but I don't think violating an NDA is illegal as in you could go to prison for violating a law. Yes, it could open you up to legal jeopardy as in a lawsuit which could be expensive, but I don't think any laws are violated. And if you're violating an NDA to expose some corrupt practices it seems like the NDA shouldn't hold any power.
- javajosh 5y ago
  Never thought about this, but I guess you might be on the hook for fraud if you violated an agreement for profit. That is, an employee violating an NDA for profit might be considered committing fraud against their employer. It's strange - Tether seems shady but I don't think Hindenburg's offer is on firm ethical or legal ground. What if Hindenberg offered $1M for access to a private list of donors to a [prominent abortion rights organization]? But now that I think about it, why doesn't every successful private contract enforcement action end in a public prosecution for fraud?
  - IgorPartola 5y ago
    An NDA would be a civil matter, I would think. It is a remedy for monetary damages, right? Of course I have no idea if offering someone a large sum of money to violate any kind of contract is in any way illegal or even actionable in civil law since the person can always refuse the money and uphold their contract. If it made you criminally liable, wouldn’t every job offer to someone under contract with a competitor lend you in jail? IANAL so offer money to break NDAs at your own risk.
    - UncleOxidant 5y ago
      > Of course I have no idea if offering someone a large sum of money to violate any kind of contract Hindenburg isn't expressly offering the money for someone to break some contract or NDA. They're just offering money for information. Yes, the person with the information may have to break an NDA to share the information, but that doesn't seem like Hindenburg's problem. It's also possible that some insider with knowledge isn't under an NDA and would be willing to share information for $1M.