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US Financial Regulators Raise Concerns About Growing Stablecoin Dominance

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The cryptocurrency market has grown by an exponential rate over the past year with the pandemic forcing people to move towards quick, contactless payment methods. Even though the industry was growing in size pre-corona, the last 12 months have really opened up the eyes of the regulators to what cryptocurrencies can actually do.

One of the recent concerns raised by regulators was related to the burgeoning size of the stablecoin market, specifically cryptocurrencies such as Tether [USDT]. They claimed that the size of the market allowed several billions of dollars to be transacted without ever coming under the purview of the country’s financial watchdogs.

During a recent Senate Banking subcommittee, members discussed the various ways cryptocurrencies could hamper financial overwatch. Officials added that a majority of stablecoin holders were unaware of the fact that their funds do not come under the jurisdiction of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC is responsible for protecting the claims made during financial transactions in the United States. Josh Lipsky, the director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center stated:

The most immediate way that some stablecoins might come under attack is from enforcers, such as what happened with the New York attorney general, who could pursue issuers for lying to consumers. Stablecoin issuers could eventually work in tandem with international governments’ projects to issue their own digital currencies but that the U.S. and others will have to develop regulations to ensure consumers aren’t hurt.

The Senate Banking members are not the first to speak against stablecoins as the industry has also been attacked by government officials such as Senator Elizabeth Warren and Federal Governor Lael Brainard. These comments came in the wake of Tether’s growing dominance on the cryptocurrency charts, currently sitting pretty at number 3. The world’s largest stablecoins holds a market of roughly $63 billion with a daily trading volume of $58 billion. Tether’s growth also allowed it to surpass major cryptos like XRP and Bitcoin Cash on the charts.

Banking officials stacked on their arguments by reminding everyone of Tether’s trading ban a few years back. Tether General Counsel Stuart Hoegner assured everyone that Tether and all its resources were maintained at the highest levels of safety and security. Hoegner promised:

We continue to look for avenues of regulation globally and are pursuing regimes in several countries

While regulators are trying to bring stablecoins under their thumb, the US government has revealed tentative plans to create a state backed digital asset. A CBDC will be controlled by the state while using blockchain technology and all the core fundamentals of a stablecoin. Although the US is not the first country to initiate or even begin working on such plans, its statements may play a huge role in how the groundwork is laid out.

XRP, Tether [USDT] fall back as Dogecoin [DOGE] lands the 4th position

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Dogecoin [DOGE] seemed to be overhauling prominent currencies like XRP as well as the largest stablecoin, Tether [USDT]. The altcoin’s latest move added to the series of surprises the coin had been giving the community over the last year.

The asset had garnered a place below the crypto spotlight, right from the beginning as it caught people’s eye for being associated with a meme. DOGE continued to attain traction after Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX began endorsing the altcoin as his favorite crypto. GenZ’s interest in the altcoin on the social media platform, TikTok further added to this. The fervor around the coin continues as DOGE was seen climbing up the crypto ladder while pushing prominent cryptocurrencies down.

Just yesterday, DOGE made news after it rose above the USDT. Earlier today, DOGE once again pushed XRP down below to the fifth position.

XRP Bids Adieu To The Fourth Spot

XRP’s tiff with the SEC almost destroyed the cryptocurrency. However, the asset managed to make its way back to the top both in terms of price as well as market cap. The altcoin had regained a place in the top five, while its price soared above $1. XRP’s stay in the fourth position seemed to be temporary as the market cap of DOGE was seen recording new highs.

At the time of writing, the market cap of DOGE was at a high of $89.52 billion while XRP’s was noted at $65 billion. Additionally, Tether’s market cap was at $52 billion. The rise in Dogecoin’s market cap not only helped the asset land the fourth position but also aided in the surge of the overall market cap, which was at $2.25, during press time.

XRP

Furthermore, the price DOGE was also on a roll as it was seemingly aiming for $1. The altcoin was trading for $0.68 with a whopping 56% in the last 24-hours. Over the previous seven days, DOGE reportedly bagged gains of up to 165%. This pump further helped the altcoin garner an array of fans. Several took to Twitter to point out DOGE’s potentials of going to the moon.

Bitfinex and Tether CTO Comes to the Rescue for User Who Lost $1 Million During Transfer

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The world of virtual assets has been the subject of speculation and strife since its inception, primarily because of the transfer of large sums of capital.  As years have passed, industry officials have also tried to ensure proper transparency and protection for all users.

This focus on security was put on show recently when a user was able to receive their holding safely after having sent it to a false address. The user in question had sent $1 million to an unknown Swerve token contract and later found that it had all been lost. 

The issue was discussed by an entire Discord chat where users opined that the chances of the funds being recovered were very little. Some members of the group stated that the ideal way to send money to an address was to send a couple of dollars in the beginning and then confirm its legitimacy. The seriousness of the issue was escalated to such an extent that it even involved the Chief Technical Officer of Bitfinex and Tether, Paolo Ardoino.

The Tether official came to the rescue by claiming that the capital could be recovered because the transaction involved Tether. His tweet read:

Tether was considered as the ideal mode of transfer because of its connection to the United States dollar. Bitfinex and Ardoino himself have assured the concerned user that any further relevant steps will be taken to ensure the capital is safely returned. Ardoino further reiterated that users need to be careful when they use DeFi projects. Many users have complained about DeFi projects in the past because of the threat of transactions landing in the wrong place.

The Tether CTO also provided the trail of the $1 million recovery via an etherscan link. The transaction had a hash of 0x0b44bf8681cbfb337f1c0f5bdb2b662a070e29eb204ec848a575c8dc3549413e on block number 10841656. The funds were sent from a wallet with the address 0xabbc27c71eb28dc52098c8e2b4dafb428d559ffb.

 

New York Supreme Court Summons Bitfinex For Video Conference

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With scams and attacks having found a place in the crypto-verse, the involvement of law enforcement is inevitable. While some cases have been put to rest, a few others continue to seek justice in court. One such ongoing case between Bitfinex’s parent company iFinex and the New York Attorney General [NYAG]. As per recent updates pertaining to the case, both the parties involved will reportedly have a conference with the New York Supreme Court.

NYAG Seeks Video Conference With Bitfinex

On Wednesday, the New York Attorney General urged Joel M. Cohen, Judge of the Supreme Court in New York to carry out a video conference with iFinex. NYAG’s latest request follows iFinex’s negligence in producing the documents that the court had previously ordered. The court went on to affirm the video conference and scheduled it for 17 September 2020 at 11:00 AM.

iFinex, Bitfinex, and Tether were subject to immense scrutiny following the cover-up of $850 million funds that were lost. The case has been in court since April 2019 and iFinex has failed to submit documents that were essential for the case. While the NYAG claims that certain documents were key to the ongoing case, iFinex wanted the court to decide otherwise. Back in July, rejecting iFinex’s appeal, the court ordered that Bitfinex, as well as Tether, had a total of 60 days to present the required documents.

Since the crypto platform failed to do so, the NYAG went on request a video conference in light of the same. The filing read,

“At the conference we seek, the OAG will request that the Court order the immediate production of documents and information by Respondents [….]”

The Supreme Court further pointed out that the link to the forthcoming video conference would soon be presented to counsel before the conference. The court order further read,

“The parties are directed to submit letters to the Court, no more than 3 pages in length, outlining their positions on the issues raised above. The letters should be filed on NYSCEF on or before September 14.”

Ethereum’s Transaction Fee Shrinks 80% from ATH after Tether Switches to OMG

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Trailing the crypto’s Big Daddy, Ethereum has put up a great show in the five years of its existence. Even as Bitcoin succumbed to the bearish pressure, Ether has succeeded in being the altcoins’ front runner. Investors were watchful of the value of the token as stablecoin continued to gain traction and DeFi frenzy.

This ride, for the underlying blockchain of the largest altcoin, has not been a smooth one. Network congestion has been one of the biggest issues that have crippled the network. However, there were signs that there could be a way out.

Shifting gear?

In a much-needed respite for Ethereum, transaction fees shrunk to almost 80% from its all-time high recorded on 22nd August, bringing back to levels last seen in mid-July. This was noted by the crypto-analytic firm Santiment which tweeted,

“This is a nice opportunity for significantly cheaper on-chain operations”

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The Ethereum network was reported to be getting more and more congested. Taking up an enormous amount of space was the DeFi’s newbie Yield Farming. But it was not just the ecosystem of decentralized finance that was to blame. Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin has been consistently sitting on the list of top three Ethereum “gas guzzlers”.

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Hence, the high growth of both DeFi, as well as stablecoins, has had a negative impact on the ETH network which witnessed the average transaction fee skyrocketing to an ATH breaking the previous records of the ICO boom of 2017.

Tether’s migration

Tether’s issuance has raised the eyebrows of many in the community. But what added to the current problem of congestion was when USDT’s issuance exceeded that of ETH on the Ethereum network.

In a bid to relieve pressure on the parent chain network, Tether entered into integration with the OmiseGO network, which happens to be the Layer 2 solution for Ethereum. With the stablecoin migrating to OMG Network for the settlement, it was expected to achieve a reduction of transaction fees and confirmation times.

However, days after the announcement, transaction fees fell which also coincided with the gas fees withdrawing considerably from its all-time high. Meanwhile, Gas usage was still hovering close to its ATH. This implied that despite the drop in transaction fee, the network is no mood of slowing down.

Good long-term signs of things to come

Ethereum was currently priced at $392. Even as it faced a minor correction, there were no signs of any sharp price movements on either side and was up by approximately 370% since the Black Thursday lows. And while a short-term bearish pressure did materialize, ETH was bullish with respect to the macro trend since its transaction count stood firm near its ATH, which has provided fundamental support for its current price action.

USDT Market Cap Reaches a New Milestone of $12 Billion

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Tether’s market capitalization has soared to new heights, after gaining $1 billion within seven days. Tether revealed on August 14 that the USDT market cap broke past the $12 billion marks, as the demand for stablecoins continues to grow.

Stablecoins like USDT have in the cryptocurrency space continued to gain momentum over time. The increased popularity in stablecoins can be attributed to the ability of coins, often associated with cryptocurrencies, to protect investors and traders against volatility. The dramatic rise in the USDT market cap corresponds to an increase of 140 percent, an additional $7 billion increase since March 2020.

USDT market cap skyrocketing

The swift growth in Tether’s market cap is the impetus behind the 12-months long stablecoins market growth. According to a study by Coin Metrics back in July, the entire stablecoins market took five years to hit $6 billion in market capitalization, but only took four months to increase from $6 billion to $12 billion.

At the time, the study consisted of the entire market for stablecoins. At present, USDT is worth $12 billion on its own. In fact, the other stablecoins on the market are not even close to reaching the milestones set by Tether. On the other hand, the USDC is the closest stablecoin with a total market capitalization of just over $1 billion, followed by the DAI at just under $420 million, and the Gemini Dollar follows the bundle with about $9 million.

Tethers growth impact on Bitcoin

Major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Bitfinex and Binance utilize USDT as an alternative to traditional currencies. Due to this fact, the majority of investors in crypto space depend on Tether to preserve funds in the sides.

Furthermore, USDT is frequently utilized as a hedge against the significant cryptos; it can be argued that Tether’s total supply portrays the capital kept on the sidelines. Some analysts argue the increasing supply of USDT, the weakening of the dollar, on top of institutional adoption; has resulted in a sentiment that the price of BTC could rise. Some of these analysts anticipate BTC to hit new milestones by next year.

Bitcoin: Capital in-flow in Tether(USDT) to Eventually Flow in BTC?

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Bitcoin’s steady decline has yet to be met by depreciating fundamental metrics. At press time, Bitcoin was valued at $9235, but its on-chain properties have continued to present a positive scenario over the past week.

According to glassnode’s weekly insights, the Bitcoin Global GNI index improved by 4 points over the past week with Liquidity and Network Health unchanged over the course of the past 7-days.

Week 28 Bitcoin GNI Breakdown 2

The sentiment across the industry continued to improve in spite of BTC price stagnancy. The report added,

“Saving behavior saw modest increases as hodlers acquired more BTC, but the main increase was in investor sentiment, which saw a 26 point increase as the amount of BTC in profit went up.”

Bitcoin’s low Stablecoin Supply may trigger Rally

Now reaching new lows in the industry is never ideal but a particular metric related to Bitcoin recently hit its least value since May 2018, and it may have a positive impact over the long term.

Group 188

According to the above chart, Bitcoin’s Stablecoin Supply Ratio has reached new lows, indicating that the stablecoin coin is currently higher than Bitcoin.

Now, the above metric essentially explains the ratio between the supply of money in the BTC and the capital inflows in the stablecoins. Tether ‘s rise in dominance in 2020 is unlike any other asset, with the USDT market cap rising from $5 billion to $9 billion over the first half of 2020.

Now, the common belief is that capital moving to USDT will eventually flow to Bitcoin, as USDT does not actually undergo any price increase on the market. Thus, when the capital moves from stablecoins to bitcoin, a bullish rally could be triggered.

The report added,

“Theoretically, if all money in stablecoins were to flow into BTC, it would increase bitcoin’s market cap by 6.5% (although in practice this would be more, as the increased demand would drive up the price of BTC).”

However, there is one condition that may disrupt the capita flow in Bitcoin.

For Bitcoin’s market cap to rise in dominance from USDT injection, the capital flow would have to take place in mass. That is far from confirmed at the moment, as other altcoins such as Ethereum, Cardano, etc continue to gather public interest.

Hence, an increase in capital in stablecoin might improve the market cap of altcoins as well if Bitcoin is unable to break away from the rising competition.

Court Rejects Bitfinex-Tether Appeal over Lost $850 Million Client Funds

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Bitfinex, the popular digital currency trading platform, now faces state claims that it hid $850 million of corporate-client funds in a cover-up between itself and Tether. This comes after the exchange lost an appeal to the appellate divisions of the Supreme Court in New York arguing that tether (USDT) was not a traditional commodity or a security.

Last year in April, New York Attorney General Letitia James claimed that Bitfinex and other associated companies were involved in hiding the loss of the conflated funds and then using affiliated stablecoin Tether money to cover the loss. The charges were subsequently pressed, and the case was lately heard by the Appellate Division of the NY State Supreme Court.

iFinex, a company owned by both Bitfinex and Tether, argued that the state did not have the right to pursue the claims because the company was not based in US, and NY jurisdiction would also not apply.    However, the reminds it had all jurisdiction against Bitfinex since many of its employees work in NY and also considering the fact that several residents of the country use USDT.

Apparently, Bitfinex claims to have deposited the funds with a Panamanian firm-Crypto Capital. The firm is believed to have provided shadow banking services to digital asset exchanges prior to being seized by different authorities. The firm said the lost funds were under the control of the Polish, American and Portuguese Governments. Bitfinex said it was working to get the funds back.

Bitfinex-Tether Lawsuit Timeline

The lawsuit dates back to two years after New York Attorney General Letitia James initiated an investigation into the suspicion that Tether had inadequate funds and liquidity to allow users to redeem USDT at market value. The investigation would have cut across iFinex and several other trading companies.

In 2019, Letitia signed a subpoena seeking information on Tether ‘s operations. iFinex accepted the subpoena and submitted several documents at the request of the court. However, the court found that the company had not produced all the information within the scope of the lawsuit.

This move alarmed that the exchange might not have enough backing to support the supply of its stablecoin.

“Today’s decision validates our office’s ability to use its broad and comprehensive investigative powers to protect New Yorkers,” James said in a statement. “Not even virtual currencies are above the law. We are pleased with the court’s decision, and will continue to protect the interest of investors in the marketplace.”

Tether Takes the Cake as Stablecoin Becomes Biggest Weekly Gainer, ETH and BTC Come Next on Podium

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The cryptocurrency market had enjoyed a decent run over the past week, but it was recently cut short after the bear took a strong stance. This, however, did not dampen the spirits of investors who believed that the assets would rally in the face of the coronavirus threat.

From June 8th to June 12th, the cryptocurrency industry witnessed important shuffles that would sway the sentiments of the holders all around. This week, Tether, a dollar-backed stablecoin, jumped to third place on the cryptocurrency charts after overtaking XRP.

Tether was the unlikely hero of the week as stablecoin became the best performer of the top cryptocurrency assets. The market cap of stablecoin rose significantly to surpass that of XRP, which has been struggling since the beginning of 2020.

Tether 

At press time, Tether was trading for exactly $1 with a total market cap of $9.194 billion. This figure was much higher than XRP’s market cap of $8.572 billion. The recent capital influx by the US government also helped Tether, boosting its 24-hour market volume to $40.26 billion. The recent bear hike turned Tether’s weekly movement red as the 7-day change was a negative 0.2 percent.

Tether added another feather to its cap recently when Bitfinex integrated the stablecoin into the ONG Network. This was done to reduce confirmation times on the network so that payments can be settled quickly while simultaneously reducing transaction fees.

Ethereum

The Vitalik Buterin co-founded Ethereum was the second biggest performer on the cryptocurrency charts. ETH has been one of the few cryptocurrencies that have seen consistent growth this year, thereby enabling more investors to jump into the Ethereum pool. As its stands, ETH sold at a value of $237.1 with a total market cap of $26.39 billion.

Over the past week, Eterereum had grown by double digits but that was cut short after a 3.93 percent drop in the past 24-hours. This price crunch also brought the 24-hour trading volume down to $12.623 billion. The 7-day fall was just around 2.6 percent but ETH holders were not worried as the asset held strongly to its title of “world’s largest altcoin”.

Bitcoin

There’s no week in the cryptocurrency industry that goes by without an update from Bitcoin and this week was no different. The world’s largest cryptocurrency still found it difficult to break the $10,000 threshold as it traded for $9480. A 3.3 percent weekly fall put an end to Bitcoin’s previous rally which was on track to break earlier resistances.

 

 

 

Tether Surpasses XRP to 3rd After Daily Transactions Reach $1.2 Billion in Value

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Tether, the largest stablecoin asset in the digital asset industry, finally took over XRP in the rankings, trailing close behind the asset for about 3 weeks. At the press time, USDT had a total market cap of $8.85 billion, with XRP continuing its close pursuit of $8.71 billion.

The feat was completed on 25 May after Tether had registered an all-time high number of daily transactions. Tether completed a total of 208,107 transactions, estimated to be worth more than $1.2 billion in valuation.

Tether

Tether continues to garner criticism

Although the increase in the market cap is a huge deal, it is inevitable that USDT will continue to receive some flak from the industry. Behind the curtains, the asset is still in the middle of the overhanging court case held by the Supreme Court of New York.

Tether’s crypto tokens are also supposed to be backed 1:1 with the U.S. dollar, but in April 2019 Bitfinex General Counsel Stuart Hoegner admitted that Tether might be backed by only 74 percent cash and cash equivalent.

This is a strong statement to make and considering that it is still valid at the moment, it directly translates into the fact that over $2 billion dollars in Tether are not backed by dollar value. It is also important to note that in April 2019, only $2.8 billion worth of Tether was in circulation, which has tripled over the last 12 months.

Tether’s movement detrimental to Bitcoin

At the moment, the demand for USDT seemed to be running a never-ending course in the industry, but the consequences might start to pile up for the largest digital asset. Bitcoin Maximalist Joe Saz claimed that one of the reasons Bitcoin was unable to reach $10,000 of resistance was due to Tether’s rapid issuance. He suggested that the USDT interferes with Bitcoin’s natural recovery in the charts. He stated,

“Ok, so 10k was the top. We won’t break it until a bottomis in and it’ll take months to establish that due to massive price discovery mutilation caused by inorganic market elements like tether.”

The impact also transcends onto Ethereum, as the largest stable asset has been hoarding the 2nd largest digital asset’s blockchain.   More than 50 percent of the transaction on Ethereum as the moment is transactions based on USDT, according to data from etherscan.io. Over 1.7 million addresses hold USDT in ETH addresses, with the total circulating USDT assets estimated at around $5.8 billion.