Illegally obtained stablecoin may sell at a premium or a discount, depending on how it is being laundered.
Money laundering is sometimes a source of deviation in stablecoin prices, blockchain researcher Bitrace has found in an examination of transactions with Tether (USDT). Depending on circumstances, money launderers may trade USDT at above- or below-market prices.
In a translated report that Wu Blockchain published on Medium on Dec. 26, Bitrace outlined two scenarios for using stablecoins for money laundering. In the “upward” case, a stablecoin is sold by bad actors to money launderers at market price and then another stablecoin can be repurchased by the bad actors at an inflated price, with the difference serving as payment for the laundering services.
Illegal USDT transactions may price the stablecoin at 8-10 Chinese yuan (RMB), the report stated. At the time of writing, 7 RMB is trading for 0.98 United States dollars.
