New evidence has emerged regarding the Trump administration's pro-crypto stance: recently, Howard Lutnick, a co-leader of Trump's transition team who was just nominated for Secretary of Commerce, has been reported to have close ties with a crypto industry company suspected of money laundering through his financial services company, Cantor Fitzgerald, which he founded and serves as CEO.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that one of the most important clients of Lutnick's company Cantor Fitzgerald is Giancarlo Devasini, the owner of the stablecoin Tether and its largest shareholder; most of Tether's 134 billion dollars in assets are held by Cantor, mainly consisting of US Treasury bonds. Tether currently holds these US Treasury bonds through custody arrangements with Cantor to support the value of the stablecoin Tether. This custodial relationship brings in tens of millions of dollars in revenue for Cantor each year.

Reports cite information from knowledgeable business partners indicating that Cantor and Tether reached an agreement last year, where Cantor holds a 5% stake in Tether. At the time of the agreement, Cantor valued these shares at as much as 0.6 billion dollars. This 0.6 billion dollars is roughly equivalent to less than one-fifth of Cantor's total asset holdings. Fintel data shows that the total value of assets held by Cantor is approximately 3.5 billion dollars.

If the above information is true, it may mean that after Lutnick assumes the role of Secretary of Commerce, Tether will receive more political support. Reports mention that both Lutnick and Devasini have a strong interest in future government policies. Devasini privately stated earlier this year that Lutnick would attempt to leverage his political influence to mitigate the threats facing Tether.

Last month, media reports indicated that the USA Department of Justice was investigating whether Tether had violated sanctions and anti-money laundering regulations. This criminal investigation is led by prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, aiming to determine whether Tether has been used by third parties to finance illicit activities such as drug trafficking, terrorism, and hacking, or to disguise the proceeds from these activities. At the same time, the USA Treasury is widely considering sanctions against Tether, as the stablecoin Tether is used by individuals and entities sanctioned by the USA, including Hamas and Russian arms dealers.

Lutnick has repeatedly expressed confidence in Tether's financial condition and emphasized that for people in high inflation countries like Argentina, Turkey, and Venezuela, the dollar-backed Tether can play a significant role.

Bloomberg also reported that Cantor is discussing accepting Tether's support to implement a multi-billion dollar project, deepening financial ties with Tether; this project aims to provide dollar loans to customers using bitcoin as collateral.

In July this year, Cantor announced the loan project mentioned above. Lutnick stated, "We will provide leverage for those who hold bitcoin. We will launch a $2 billion loan."

Cantor arranges and provides a substantial amount of securities and commodities as a strong supporter of bitcoin, and will now establish a platform to support the financing needs of bitcoin investors, "We are pleased to help unleash the full potential of bitcoin and continue to bridge the gap between traditional finance and digital assets."

Sources told Bloomberg that funding for the aforementioned Cantor project will start at $2 billion and is expected to eventually reach hundreds of billions.

According to media reports, after Lutnick was nominated as Secretary of Commerce, he is prepared to transfer the business dealings of Cantor and Tether to colleagues. Lutnick's son, Brandon Lutnick, currently works as a trader at Cantor and previously interned at Tether in Lugano, swiss franc.

Before Lutnick was chosen as Secretary of Commerce, a Tether spokesperson stated in a declaration, "Tether and Cantor are entirely based on a professional relationship managing reserves. The claim that Lutnick is involved with the (Trump) transition team in some way implies influence on regulatory actions is absurd."