Meanwhile, there has been plenty of speculation that bitcoin’s big rise may have been due to a pump-and-dump scheme. One theory that the U.S. Justice Department is reportedly looking into is that the digital coin Tether (which is supposedly pegged to the U.S. dollar to make for a less volatile cryptocurrency) was used to manipulate the bitcoin market and cause a large run-up in price. This theory stems from an academic paper, which cast Tether in a very damning light. And it also led many to believe that the initial bitcoin craze was manufactured and destined to bust.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has recovered most of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment made to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation's largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month, officials said Monday.

— Binance.US also hired a former House Financial Services aide and a former House chief of staff from Ice Miller Strategies to lobby on its behalf, according to disclosures filed last week. Though the company has not previously hired lobbyists in Washington, last August it joined the Blockchain Association, an industry lobbying group that was a vocal player in negotiations over cryptocurrency tax provisions in the bipartisan infrastructure bill and that has spent nearly $300,000 on lobbying in the first half of 2021.
But that doesn’t mean it’s completely secure in the same way most people consider the U.S. dollar or other established currencies to be secure. Since cryptocurrency isn’t backed by any governmental authority, it doesn’t have the same protections as many standard currencies throughout the world.