Tether has had a roller coaster 2019 with controversies mounting on the stablecoin like there’s no tomorrow. But a recent revelation has shown that Tether enjoys a good market share in a place far away from the United States, China.
In a country that has been on the fence about cryptocurrencies with the government proposing a blanket ban on crypto trade, the number of developments in the space coming out is surprising. The most famous story that has come out from China is that Tether has been used in an astounding 99 percent of all Bitcoin spot trades in 2019. This has come after the stablecoin replaced the yuan, the native fiat currency that was earlier pegged to Bitcoin.
The officials from Chainalysis, a data aggregator, has touched upon why Tether’s performance in China should act as an indicator of the growing Asian market presence in the cryptocurrency sphere. Philip Gradwell, the Chief Economist at Chainalysis, stated:
“People should be paying more attention to the price formation on the large Asian exchanges. There’s probably going to be a large amount of liquidity there that, for example, these OTC brokers will be providing. It can move very fast.”
Tether will be glad that the Chinese preference has come to light because of the scandals that surround the stablecoin organization. In a recent address of the class action lawsuit levied on Tether, plaintiffs Vel Freedman and Kyle Roche went all out to call Tether a scam. The statements read:
“This action concerns a sophisticated scheme that co-opted a disruptive innovation — cryptocurrency — and used it to defraud investors, manipulate markets, and conceal illicit proceeds.”
They further elucidated by saying:
“Part-fraud, part-pump-and-dump, and part-money laundering, the scheme was primarily accomplished through two enterprises — Bitfinex and Tether — that commingled their corporate identities and customer funds while concealing their extensive co-operation in a way that enabled them to manipulate the cryptocurrency market with unprecedented effectiveness.”
The boom in China has also enabled Tether to rocket up the cryptocurrency charts. If one compares performances from the beginning of 2018 to the present, Tether has been the biggest gainer, both in terms of market cap and ranking.
The reason for this is that back in 2018; the Chinese government prohibited its citizens from using yuan for cryptocurrency trades. This enabled Tether to move from the low rankings in the top 10 club to currently sit at a respectable 4th rank.
Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market conditions and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.
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