Myanmar’s Shadow Government Adopts Tether as Official Currency: Report

Myanmar’s shadow government, the National Unity Government (NUG), made up of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters has recognized stablecoin tether USDT$0.9994 as its official currency, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday.

• NUG’s Finance Minister Tin Tun Naing said in a Facebook post that the NUG will now accept the dollar proxy, USDT, for “domestic use to make it easy and speed up the current trade, services and payment systems.”
• Although NUG holds no official power, it declared war against Myanmar’s junta, a government led by military leaders, in September. The junta came to power earlier this year after a military coup.
• In May 2020, Myanmar’s central bank declared all digital currencies illegal. Hence, NUG’s adoption of tether appears to be an act of defiance.
• While free from the erratic price swings that are customary with crypto, such as bitcoin and ether, tether has nonetheless long been mired in controversy over the opaqueness of the dollar reserves that back it.

Read more: Hindenburg Research Offers $1M Reward to Uncover Tether’s Backing