 On 30 April 2019 Tether Limited's lawyer claimed that each tether was backed by only $0.74 in cash and cash equivalents.Tether Limited and the tether cryptocurrency are controversial because of the company's failure to provide a promised audit showing adequate reserves backing tether, its alleged role in manipulating the price of bitcoin, the unclear relationship with the Bitfinex exchange, and the company's apparent lack of a long-term banking relationship.Author David Gerard was quoted by the Wall Street Journal saying that Tether "is sort of the central bank of crypto trading ... [yet] they don't conduct themselves like you'd expect a responsible, sensible financial institution to do."