USDT has become the most traded stablecoin, especially after the de-pegging of Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) earlier this year.
United States-dollar-backed stablecoin Tether (USDT) has hit an all-time high in its market capitalization based on existing market data.
The new milestone has helped Tether exceed its previously set all-time high of $83.2 billion which was announced back in May 2022. USDT is currently the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap which at the time of writing is pegged at $83.23 billion. According to Tether’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Paolo Ardoino, this outstanding jump in market cap is a clear indication that people are interested in having access to financial freedom.
When they eventually get this access, they will make use of it, Paolo explained. In his opinion, Tether tokens are a stable alternative for unbanked individuals, at the same time, it also assists people from emerging markets to maintain their buying power even in the face of devaluation of their national currency.
“Between our battle-tested resilience in the face of market volatility and our industry-leading transparency practices, Tether has proven that it can be trusted, and customers are responding in kind. We are eager to continue maintaining our laser focus on emerging markets and will not waiver in our efforts to expand access to financial freedom globally,” Paolo added.
Tether (USDT) Popularity Intensifies amidst USDC Depeg
In recent times, USDT has become the most traded stablecoin, especially after the de-pegging of Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) earlier this year.
The dollar-pegged stablecoin runs on more than 10 blockchains including Ethereum (ETH), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Tron (TRX). Compared to the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) which has a daily traded volume of around $16.5 billion, Tether has over $25.57 billion.
Tether’s endearment to many entities intensified following the crisis in the United States banking system which involved the now-defunct Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank. In their search for alternatives, investors discovered that self-custody through stablecoins was preferable. That marked the beginning of a revolution for USDT as its market cap began to recover exponentially from $65 billion which it had been relegated to due to the FTX implosion.
Explicitly, the first quarter report of Tether (USDT) showed that its circulation had skyrocketed by about 20%. As of March 31st, 2023, the stablecoin issuer had total reserve assets of around $81.8 billion with the majority of those being the US Treasury Bills. When the Q1 report was released, Ardoino said:
“Looking ahead to Q2, we have an extremely positive outlook and remain committed to transparency, which is why we have introduced new categories in the reserves’ breakdown in our quarterly report to provide even greater transparency to our users.”
Fast forward to this day, Tether has overtaken the entire stablecoin market and has gained more users while still remaining pegged to the US dollar. In a new move, the company has declared plans to allocate up to 15% of its net realized operating profits toward purchasing Bitcoin as a reserve currency.
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