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Tether(USDT)

Tether corrects inaccurate facts on WSJ

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The Wall Street Journal released a report at the tail end of last week that expressed concern about Tether’s audit procedure. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s previous head of internet enforcement, John Reed Stark, was mentioned in the article as saying,

“Tether needs an audit that’s akin to a corporate colonoscopy, that tells investors everything about what’s in their reserves.”

The stablecoin issuer clarified that it plans to conduct audits in its most recent blog post in response to the same concern. But it continued by characterizing the WSJ piece as a “series of unsubstantiated conclusions.” It further stated,

“The article seeks to discredit the work that Tether has put into transparent and honest communication to the public.”

The stablecoin issuer had changed accounting firms back in July, moving from a small Cayman Islands-based business to BDO Italia, the Italian affiliate of the larger BDO network. However, the trustworthy and impartial Top 5 audit firm was referred to as a “Tether accounting firm” by the WSJ. The token team responded by claiming that the same had been “erroneously written by the WSJ.”

It added,

“BDO will continue to have unrestricted access to any relevant  information to perform their work and Tether will continue to share its attestations, despite continuous attempts by the media to disparage its reputation and that of top-ranking firms like BDO that are working with digital asset companies.” 

The stablecoin issuer also clarified in the statement that Treasury Bills have been the “premier safe asset” for many years. In addition, it stated, “to assume that our business is unprofitable is false,” and went on to refute several inaccuracies in the WSJ article.

The announcement from the stablecoin issuer concluded by emphasizing,

“Tether’s disclosures have been the most honest and transparent in the market – everyone knows that we have not had an audit and they know we are working towards one.”

Tether remains unaffected

According to Glassnode data, the volume of deposits to exchanges fell on Wednesday to a fresh 3-year low. The same suggests that people are either HODLing other assets with their stablecoin holdings or having their Tether stashes zipped. Overall, it can be concluded that market players aren’t currently on a Tether dumping rampage.

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Source: Twitter

Furthermore, despite the skeptics, the token’s team claims to be dedicated to continuing to be one of the market’s top stablecoin and to keep demonstrating transparency.

Tether takes ‘non-reckless’ stance on Tornado Cash addresses

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Tether, the most extensively used stablecoin, has been a leader in the development of the idea for digital tokens. Tether Tokens are a trailblazer in the digital use of conventional currencies and a disruptor of the established financial system. The token has also been supporting and empowering new blockchain initiatives and innovations in the crypto-verse.

While being one of the most dynamic tokens, Tether seems to have taken a stand on the most recent Tornado cash issue. The token indicates that it is deciding whether or not to freeze Tornado cash addresses after waiting for directions from the law enforcement authorities.

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Source: Blog Post

Alarm bells went out in the cryptocurrency market after the US government recently imposed sanctions on virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash. The Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons List of the US Treasury Department has approved the Ethereum-based coin mixer Tornado Cash. US investors are no longer permitted to use the chain of the coin-mixing service for illicit reasons due to the sanction.

The US Department of Treasury said that the action became effective on 8 August 2022. Businesses use Coin Mixers to disguise the source of every transaction, with Tornado Cash, which is based on Ethereum, further becoming incredibly popular.

Tether considers this a premature move

In a recent blog post, Tether said that the company’s choice to freeze secondary market addresses might be careless. The company further disclosed that there have been occasions in which law enforcement has instructed it to refrain from freezing suspect private wallets in order to prevent alerting the subject of an investigation and causing them to liquidate the cash. Several stablecoin issuers, including Paxos, a licenced business with headquarters in New York, are also criticised in Tether’s blog post.

The blog further stated,

“Even if Tether recognizes suspicious activities on such an address, completing a freeze without the verified instruction of law enforcement and other government agencies might interfere with ongoing and sophisticated law enforcement investigations.”

Tether claimed that despite not having a US presence, the company still views OFAC sanctions as a method for global compliance. It further stated that freezing the addresses erratically could obstruct regulators’ ability to conduct an inquiry.

Tether keeps up its promise

In other news, the leading stablecoin issuer USDT has started to reduce its holdings of commercial paper in compliance with commitments it made earlier this year.
According to a recent disclosure from the firm, the token decreased its holdings of commercial paper from $20 billion to $8.5 billion in the second quarter of 2022, a loss of more than 58%.

Tether further states that it intends to reduce its holdings of commercial paper to zero by the end of the year and to about $200 million by the end of August.

Ethereum Merge gets backed up by Tether

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The Ethereum network wants to investigate the proof-of-stake [PoS] mechanism using “The Merge.” However, it appeared to be more difficult than anticipated to leave behind proof-of-work [PoW]. Nevertheless, a number of well-known networks have expressed their support for the Merge, which is anticipated to take place in September. Tether, the biggest stablecoin issuer, was the most recent to express support for the impending update.

The recent blog post “USD Supports ETH Proof-of-Stake Transition” was written by Tether [USDT]. The network said that it had no intention of perplexing or harming the ecology. The network would function accordingly with the impending Ethereum upgrade. The blog post further said,

“Tether believes that in order to avoid any disruption to the community, especially when using our tokens in DeFi projects and platforms, it’s important that the transition to POS is not weaponized to cause confusion and harm within the ecosystem.”

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Source: Twitter

Tether also emphasised how important a seamless transition was to maintaining the “long-term sustainability of the DeFi ecosystem and its platforms.”

It should also be noted that Circle Pay’s support for the Merge was revealed before this statement was made. Since Circle Pay is the creator of USD Coin (USDC), it is said that it competes with Tether. The Ethereum network has a stronghold over USDT and USDC, respectively.

Ethereum’s shift to POS drives a wedge

As was already mentioned, there is a major rift as a result of Ethereum’s switch to PoS. A hard fork is developing, led by famous miner Chandler Guo. Uncertainty surrounds the hard fork’s future, though. Nevertheless, support has already been provided by a number of exchanges, including Poloniex, BitMex, and others. The Tron Foundation’s founder, Justin Sun, seems to be growing more optimistic about the hard fork.

While Sun acknowledged that his exchange had previously shown a preference for Ethereum PoW, he promised that his stablecoin USDD will do the same. Speaking lately about USDD, he said,

“I think decentralized stablecoins, like [Tron stablecoin] USDD, [a] decentralized U.S. dollar, is still essential to our industry because, as we all know, all the components of [decentralized finance] today it’s all decentralized … except stablecoins.”

Tether didn’t mention the anticipated hard fork in its most recent blog post. Because USDD will be used in the ETHW chain, many people assumed that Tether might be reversing course.

Tether CTO says conventional hedge funds are attempting to dump USDT

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The CTO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, speaks out about attempts by conventional hedge funds to orchestrate a coordinated attack to short USDT. In a Twitter discussion discussing the specifics, Ardoino stated that the attacks consist of a “new wave of FUD, troll armies, clowns.etc.”

The in-depth thread comes in the wake of a Wall Street Journal article that revealed traditional hedge funds are attempting to short tether through Genesi Global Trading, one of the biggest cryptocurrency brokerages.

Tether and team branded as the bad guys?

The conversation was started by Ardoino by highlighting the tools and strategies traditional finance uses to short USDT. He claimed that Tether and the team have been painted as villains despite efforts to work with regulators and promote transparency.

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Paolo drew attention to the team’s efforts and accomplishments. He continued by saying that the token is fully backed. He emphasized the fact that the altcoin has consistently redeemed USDT at $1 and has never had a redemption fail.

Ardoino compared tether to banks and claimed that his staff processed more redemptions than 7 billion, which is impractical for financial institutions,

“Tether also reduced its commercial paper exposure from ~45B to ~8.4B and is set to phase it out in full in the coming months. All the expiring CP have been rolled into US Treasury bills, and we’ll keep going till CP exposure will be 0. Tether’s portfolio is stronger than ever.”

Ardoino said that it has handled 16 billion in redemptions in more than a month, or 19 percent of its total reserve, to demonstrate the strength of its portfolio.

Throughout the thread, Ardoino emphasized the token’s durability and stability and claimed that USDT is the only stablecoin that has been successfully used under great circumstances.

“And while the FUD was focusing on USDT, during the last 2 months of crypto devastation, it was discovered that many lenders and hedge funds considered the holy heroes of our industry were actually taking risks that Tether never touched even with a ten-foot pole.”

Tether-ing in Mexico

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Tether, the startup behind USDT, one of the most widely used stablecoins, announced the creation of a new currency pegged to the Mexican peso on May 26. The token is intended to increase the company’s visibility and impact in Latin America.

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Tether’s decision to introduce MXNT, a token connected to the Mexican peso, appears to be a positive move. According to the Triple-A agency, roughly 40% of Mexican businesses want to adopt blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies into their operations, according to research quoted in a Tether press release. When we go deeper into the numbers, we discover that barely 2.5 percent of Mexico’s 130 million population holds cryptocurrency.

The potential for Mexico to become a complete Latin American crypto powerhouse is undeniable. Mexico will be effective in supporting the multi-billion-dollar flow of payments into the country by adopting and using stablecoins tied to the national currency. This will allow for a faster and less expensive transfer of assets.

CTO Paolo Ardoyno commented on the event, saying that the growing use of cryptocurrencies in Latin America necessitated the expansion of the stablecoin and that MXNT, in turn, can reduce volatility for people wishing to convert their assets and investments from fiat to digital currencies. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.

Consistent world of Tether

MXNT is an addition to the stablecoin’s storefront’s fiat-currency-linked stablecoins. Pegged to the US dollar USDT, pegged to the euro EURT, and pegged to the Chinese yuan CNHT, the peso-pegged token joins the ranks of the USDT, EURT, and CNHT tokens.

This range is undoubtedly impressive, but Tether’s internal issues have placed a pall over the company’s good news. As a result, earlier in May, amid investor fear, USDT lost its 1:1 peg to the dollar and traded at a discount to the market for some timeperiod of time. Tether’s reputation worsened even after the audit certifying the viability of the company’s reserves was published.

Tether joins hands with a Switzerland city to transform it into Europe’s Bitcoin capital

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Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market has outlined an ambitious project dubbed as “Plan B” for Switzerland’s ninth-largest city. Announcing the same via Twitter, the platform is aiming to brand Lugano as the “crypto capital of Europe.”

The latest development draws parallel to El Salvador’s landmark decision to make Bitcoin legal tender last year. As per the official statement, Tether is looking forward to revamping the financial sector in the city by transforming its economic system through blockchain technology. It is not specified what the stablecoin firm plans to do, but it is slated to release more details on March 3.

In addition to that, Lugano, the largest city in Italian-speaking southern Switzerland, and Tether plan to hold a press conference at the beginning of March to announce their plans.

Earlier in November, Lugano has announced launching its native blockchain knowns as the 3Achain project that was based on a Proof-of-Authority consensus algorithm linked to the Ethereum blockchain. The newly released blockchain was functioning on open-source technology.

With the increased acceptance of the technology, more cities, and even several nations around the world are working around adopting various cryptocurrencies. Apart from this, numerous countries have stated that they are meticulously working on creating their own Central Bank Digital Currencies or CBDCs that would allow direct implementation of blockchain technologies in the traditional financial system.

That being said, the latest announcement reflects the role of major stablecoin platforms like Tether which has been the driving force in reshaping the crypto landscape.

Tether on an expansion spree

A few months back the platform has announced that its USDT stablecoin is now available on the Avalanche network. Tether’s USDT is currently the largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of $75.2 billion. The asset is also ranked as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, as per data from CoinGecko.

Despite dominating the stablecoin market, Tether is not looking to slow down the expansion of USDT support across diverse blockchains.

Currently, USDT supports 14 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Algorand, Omni, and Binance Smart Chain (BSC), among others. The stablecoin issuer is planning to go live on more DLT networks in the near future

Tether [USDT] CTO Paolo Ardoino says “everyone takes from king” on competitor’s rising market cap

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Tether, the issuer of the stablecoin USDT, has been constantly under regulator’s scrutiny. Over the past couple of months, USDT appears to be shrinking while its competitor USDC advances at a rapid pace. But this exec is not worried.

Paolo Ardoino, who happens to be the CTO of both Bitfinex and Tether, iterated the famous adage “Let everyone grow so that the sum of all voices will be louder,” and asserted that the “stablecoin industry is much more solid [with competitions] around in the long run.”

Taking a jibe at the recent reports regarding USDC “eating away USDT’s market share,” Ardoino clarified that does not mind seeing growth and that he welcomes everyone provided there is a level playing field. His tweet read,

“Everyone at Tether is proud that the idea that they created in 2014 is now copied by many parties. Ain’t good if no one bothers. So we are flattered. Alone is harder to make history. With a bigger representation of stablecoins, we can aim for fairer regulations.”

USDT’s decline in dominance

The dwindling price of the cryptocurrency market has had no effect on the transaction volume of stablecoins. In fact, the figures have stayed widely unfazed. As per Messari’s latest report, stablecoins witnessed impressive growth in the second quarter of this year amidst market-wide sideways movement. In addition to that, stablecoins have reportedly facilitated a staggering $1.7 trillion in transaction volume, meaning a rise of 1,090% year-over-year and 59% since the previous quarter.

USDT, on the other hand, had failed to impress the charts, as the parabolic growth in the market cap of the world’s oldest and largest stablecoin giant came to an abrupt halt in May.

For almost two months, Tether has not issued a single USDT on the Ethereum network. This has been one of the major factors that have affected the asset losing its market dominance. Additionally, China’s renewed crypto crackdown on USDT is another contributor in addition to the mounting regulatory threats.

Tether Community Unveils non-profit Initiative – Tether Impact

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The stablecoin realm and Tether have been under regulatory scrutiny for a long time. But this has not deterred the community members from launching an initiative in a bid to boost USDT’s use cases across the world. Dubbed ‘Tether Impact,’ the new brand-new organization that will be run by the community and will be a non-Profit, independent organization.

Tether Impact will essentially interact with the world’s largest stablecoin issuer Tether and the crypto ecosystem for the purpose of supporting and incentivizing the use of USDT in third world countries, emerging economies as well across the decentralized finance DApps. This was revealed by a community member, Daniele McDonald. As of now the official website for the initiative consists of just two paragraphs, one of which described its goal as,

“Tether Impact aims to be the bridging point between USDT and its users, raising awareness and educating the general Cryptocurrency Community on any ongoing Tether initiative.”

Growing Tether conundrum

While stablecoin, in general, has been a controversial subject among global lawmakers, USDT, particularly, has been firmly in the regulatory crosshairs. Among those raising an alarm about the potential risks of the world’s third-biggest cryptocurrency, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren’s comment has stood out. In June, Rosengren not just listed USDT among the “financial stability challenges” the US central bank is eyeing, but also called it “new disruptors” to short-term credit markets. This was also one of the rare moments when an executive in the Feds explicitly cited USDT in a speech.

Currently, there is more than $60 billion worth of USDT in circulation which makes USDT deposits exceed that of many US banks.

Since the beginning, Tether has not been a transparent product, unlike its peers. This changed after the long battle with the New York attorney general [NYAG]. To conform with the settlement terms, the stablecoin has now started publishing the public with quarterly breakdowns of the investments used to back the stablecoins.

USDC on Tron Blockchain Hits $111 Million 4 days after expansion

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USDC activity on the Tron [TRX] blockchain has hit a milestone already. As per the latest stats on Tronscan, the world’s second-largest stablecoin’s circulating supply reached $111.68 million on the 4th of July.

This news comes just four days after CENTRE, the consortium run by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and payments firm Circle, announced that USDC will be implemented on Tron, Avalanche, Celo, Flow, Hedera, Kava, Nervos, Polkadot, Stacks, and Tezos. Circle CEO, Jeremy Allaire had earlier noted,

“TRON has built a very large and highly successful blockchain platform and network, and is one of the most widely used in stablecoin transactions. We’re excited to bring the benefits of a trusted dollar digital currency such as USDC to this growing ecosystem of users and developers.”

Growing Tron’s appeal and USDC’s dominance

It is important to note that USDC has experienced unprecedented activity over the last few quarters. Reports have also gone on to state that it could soon become a dominant stablecoin on the Ethereum network. It has emerged as one of the most preferred stablecoin in the decentralized finance [DeFi] sector. To top that, over 50% of USDC supply currently rests in smart contracts which totals up to almost 12.5 billion. Additionally, Tether’s growing legal woes also deviated users from turning to USDC, which could be attributed to the leading stablecoin slowly losing grip.

Meanwhile, this new achievement on the TRX blockchain could also signify that the market players are increasingly seeking other blockchains that facilitate transactions at a much cheaper and significantly faster pace than Ethereum. Besides, the TRX blockchain has already seen rapid growth for USDT, on its network. As a matter of fact, USDT on Justin Sun’s blockchain has recently surpassed that on Ethereum.

In short, USDC’s growing dominance in the market has coincided with Tron’s growing appeal as a critical alternative to the Ethereum network.

Stablecoin issuer Tether releases breakdown of its reserves

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The stablecoin issuer Tether released a report consisting of a breakdown of its reserves as of 31st of March 2021. This is the first of its kind since Tether’s launch in July 2014.

The pie chart below shows that the company held approximately 76% of its reserves in cash and cash equivalents and other short-term deposits and commercial paper.

Tether
Stablecoin issuer Tether releases breakdown of its reserves 7

With a share of 65.39%, commercial paper formed the major chunk of the stablecoin giant’s cash and cash equivalents cohort. Fiduciary deposits, on the other hand, accounted for 24.20% of the same category, while cash, reverse repo notes, treasury bills comprised 3.87%, 3.60%, and2.94% respectively.

The remainder of the platform’s reserves were split up across three groups. For instance, secured loans [none to affiliated entities] formed 12.55% of the total reserves while corporate bonds, funds, and precious metals collectively represented 10%. Moreover, other investments, including digital tokens, constituted 1.64%.

Reason Behind Tether’s First-ever Reserve Composition Release

The latest report essentially underscores the company’s efforts to remain in compliance with a settlement with the New York Attorney General [NYAG] whose probe ended in March. Tether and its sister company/cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex had to pay an $18.5 million fine in addition to agreeing on the release of quarterly breakdowns of its reserves. In line with this, Tether stated,

“Today’s publication reflects our continued dedication to making this information public as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and setting the standard in our industry. We embrace that commitment to our community.”

Earlier this month, its stablecoin [USDT] on-chain’s volume had climbed to a new milestone of a whopping $1 trillion for the first time ever. Despite several controversies and the emergence of several stablecoins over the past few years, Tether continued to dominate the realm. At the time of writing controls well over 60% of the market share of the total stablecoin transaction volume.