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) as its official currency, according to a Bloomberg report.
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.” 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. Hindenburg Research has offered a $1 million reward to uncover Tether’s backing.