Tether (USDT) Reaches Historic $100 Billion Market Cap, Outpacing Rivals
Summary:
Crypto stablecoin Tether (USDT) has reached a market capitalization of $100 billion, marking a 9% growth year-to-date. This further widens the gap between USDT and its closest competitor, USD Coin (USDC). Tether, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is available on 14 various blockchains and protocols. Despite previous controversies, the company insists each USDT token is backed 1:1 by independently audited reserves, largely consisting of yield-bearing U.S. Treasury Bills.
The crypto stablecoin Tether (USDT) has reached a historic market capitalization of $100 billion, reflecting a 9% growth since the beginning of the year. This accomplishment further distances USDT from its nearest competitor, the USD Coin (USDC). The rise to a market cap of $100 billion was reached on March x, as reported by CoinMarketCap, showing a significant increase within the past 24 hours. USDT now stands with a $71 billion advantage against its nearest stablecoin rival USDC, issued by Circle, also commenting noteworthy growth this year. As illustrated by data from CoinGecko, Tether's market cap compares equivalently with that of UK's oil and gas behemoth, BP, and even surpasses e-commerce powerhouse Shopify. With its value linked to the U.S. dollar, Tether is available across 14 blockchains and protocols, as stated on its website, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, only trailing Ether (ETH). This has seen USDT become an attractive choice for crypto traders seeking safe assets. The broader crypto market has recently rebounded to a market cap exceeding $2 trillion, stimulated by a 50% surge in Bitcoin's (BTC) value, reaching the highest price for the past two years. The issuing entity, also known as Tether, maintains that every USDT token is backed 1:1 by its autonomous audited reserves majorly composed of yield-generating conservatively invested U.S. Treasury Bills (T-Bills). By the end of 2023's final quarter, Tether announced a record-breaking quarterly profit of $2.85 billion, with $1 billion stemming from its T-Bills. Its Q4 report revealed it held north of $80 billion and has previously been identified as the leading buyer of T-Bills globally. Additionally, the same Q4 report stated that it holds Bitcoin worth $2.8 billion. Although it sparked some concerns about how Tether is backed in the crypto industry, Tether has made moves to lower its risk exposure. In 2022, Tether committed to discontinuing its reserve lending by the end of 2023. Yet, the company had $4.8 billion in loans at year-end, albeit $1 billion less than what it started the year with. Tether assures the loans are fully collateralized and aims to reduce them to zero this year. More than half of the current USDT supply is on the Tron blockchain, which according to a UN report in January, has turned into a popular option for cyber fraud and money launderers in Southeast Asia. In response to the report, Tether defended themselves citing the omission of its collaborations with law enforcement and the traceability of its tokens.
Published At
3/4/2024 10:47:15 AM
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