USDT payments feature in Polish energy giant’s failed $230M oil deal: FT

The world’s largest stablecoin by market cap, Tether’s USDt, was reportedly used in a failed Venezuelan oil trade that cost Poland’s largest energy giant $230 million in late 2023, according to the Financial Times.That was after the Caracas-based state oil company, PDVSA, began demanding partial payments in USDT as a workaround to US financial sanctions.The $230 million was an advance payment paid largely in Tether USDt (USDT) in an oil trade orchestrated by Samer Awad, a former executive at Orlen Trading Switzerland (OTS), a trading subsidiary of Poland’s state-controlled energy giant, Orlen, to acquire 6 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil in November 2023 from state-owned PDVSA, the news outlet reported on Tuesday. Orlen sent the $230 million advance payment to Hannon International Middle East, the Dubai-based seller, on Dec. 4, 2023. Hannon approached various crypto brokers and intermediaries to obtain the USDT necessary to buy the crude oil, but most funds disappeared into a maze of crypto transfers, while Orlen only received about $29 million worth of oil before eventually terminating the contract. Cointelegraph has approached Tether and Orlen for comment on the matter.“H...