Stablecoin issuer Tether has responded to a $2.4 billion lawsuit initiated by defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius. 

In the lawsuit, Celsius has accused the leading stablecoin issuer of making fraudulent Bitcoin transfers. 

The dispute stems from a 2020 loan agreement between the two parties. Tether was able to take out loans from the stablecoin issuer at low rates. 

After Celsius failed to provide additional coins following a market crash, its Bitcoin collateral ended up being liquidated.

The plaintiff now argues that it was simply not given an opportunity by Tether to fulfill Tether's collateral demand, and its coins were liquidated close to the market bottom. 

However, Tether has strongly pushed back against the claim that Tether improperly liquidated its collateral. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino insists that the stablecoin giant had the right to liquidate Celcisus's position after it failed to send more collateral. 

The company described the lawsuit as "baseless," adding it aims to impose the costs of its "mismanagement" on the stablecoin issuer. 

Ardoino has stressed that the lawsuit will be fought "until the end" since the leading stablecoin issuer believes that it is a crucial legal battle for the industry. "Bullying never scares us," he added. 

"We appreciate the overwhelming support we're seeing in our community. Tether will help in setting an example as our community recovers from the bad actors that plagued the crypto industry," Ardoino said in a follow-up social media post.