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Strassel Allysia Finley More Editorials Commentary Future View Houses of Worship Cross Country Letters to the Editor The Weekend Interview Potomac Watch Podcast Foreign Edition Podcast Free Expression Podcast Opinion Video Notable & Quotable * Books & Arts Reviews Film Television Theater Masterpiece Series Music Dance Opera Exhibition Cultural Commentary Art Sections Arts Books More WSJ Puzzles What To Watch * Real Estate Sections Commercial Real Estate More Real Estate Video * Life & Work Sections Cars Careers Food & Drink Home & Design Ideas Personal Finance Recipes Travel Wellness Columns Your Health Work & Life Carry On Bonds Turning Points On Wine On The Clock More WSJ Puzzles Space & Science * Style Sections Lifestyle Fashion Film Television Music Art & Auctions Columns My Monday Morning Off Brand On Trend * Sports Sections MLB NBA NFL Golf Tennis Soccer Columns Jason Gay Search The Crypto CrisisFallout from FTX Layoffs, BankruptciesTimelineA Doomed EmpireSBF InterviewCaroline EllisonNishad SinghBitcoin's FutureNewsletter Signup This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ crypto-companies-behind-tether-used-falsified-documents-and-shell-companies-to-get-bank-accounts-f798b0a5 * WSJ News Exclusive Crypto Companies Behind Tether Used Falsified Documents and Shell Companies to Get Bank Accounts Tether Holdings and related crypto broker obscured identities, documents show [] Illustration by Alexandra Citrin-Safadi/The Wall Street Journal; Photo: istock By Ben Foldy and Ada Hui Updated March 3, 2023 3:19 pm ET print Listen to article (2 minutes) In late 2018, the companies behind the most widely traded cryptocurrency were struggling to maintain their access to the global banking system. Some of their backers turned to shadowy intermediaries, falsified documents and shell companies to get back in, documents show. One of those intermediaries, a major tether trader in China, was trying to "circumvent the banking system by providing fake sales invoices and contracts for each deposit and withdrawal," Stephen Moore, one of the owners of Tether Holdings Ltd., said in an email viewed by The Wall Street Journal. 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