(Bloomberg) — Citadel Securities, no stranger to social-media controversies, has found itself the subject of another one: the collapse of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD, which it says it had nothing to do with.
The trading firm says it is not involved in the situation and “does not trade stablecoins, including UST,” a representative for the firm told Bloomberg, repudiating claims circulating on social media in recent days. BlackRock Inc, also named in various posts, denied their involvement.
“Rumors that BlackRock had a role in the collapse of UST are categorically false. In fact, BlackRock does not trade UST,” said spokesperson Logan Koffler in an emailed statement. The asset manager recently backed Circle Internet Financial Ltd, which runs another stablecoin, USD Coin.
TerraUSD, or UST has spiraled to new lows since breaking its peg of one-to-one to the dollar over the weekend. The collapse poses one of the biggest tests yet to decentralized finance and the will of its backers to defend it.
The situation sparked a barrage of speculation about the cause. Such was the intensity of the attention that Ken Griffin’s market-making firm and BlackRock decided to respond. Last year, Citadel found itself subject to attacks related to its role in the meme-stock frenzy involving GameStop Corp. and other companies.
TerraUSD’s backers are trying to raise about $1.5 billion to shore up the token after its crash, but are struggling to win investor support for a rescue, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
(Updates to add response from BlackRock starting second paragraph)
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