Tether Mulls Over Support for Tron Network Following Competitor Circle's Exit
Summary:
Tether, the issuer of a leading stablecoin, remains undecided about its support for the Tron network. This comes after Circle, a competitor, stopped issuing its stablecoin on Tron's blockchain. According to Tether, it has the ability to halt transactions on any supported transport layer, as part of its compliance duties. With a market capitalization of $97.7 billion, Tether leads the stablecoin market, and the Tron network houses over half of its tokens. The company has responded to a UN report accusing it of being a favorite tool for cybercriminals, stating that it has frozen over $300 million involved in illegal activities recently.
Tether, the issuer of a prominent stablecoin, remains undecided regarding its support for the Tron network. This follows an action by its competitor, Circle, to stop issuing its own stablecoin on the same blockchain recently. Addressing the issue, Tether responded to Cointelegraph by explaining how its tokens are issued on multiple blockchains, acting as transport layers. As part of its compliance duties, it maintains the ability to halt transactions on any directly supported transport layer. It also continuously keeps tabs on the safety of every supported layer for the betterment of its community. As per CoinGecko, Tether (USDT) leads the stablecoin market with a capitalization of $97.7 billion, whereas Circle's USD Coin (USDC) lags behind at $28 billion. The Tron network harbors over 51.8 billion USDT, making up half of the near 101 billion USDT tokens issued across various blockchains, as indicated by Tether's Feb. 21 transparency report. An extra $76.2 million is kept on standby for near-term liquidity for its Tron network token. Tether's statement was in response to Circle's Feb. 20 announcement of instantly halting the minting of USDC on Tron and slowly withdrawing support, with a goal to maintain the trust, transparency, and security of USDC. A recent United Nations report claimed USDT on the Tron blockchain has become the favorite tool for cybercriminals and money launderers in Southeast Asia due to its low-cost, anonymous, and straightforward transactions. Tether rejected the report, alleging the UN overlooked the traceability of USDT and Tether's history of cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Tether claimed to have frozen over $300 million worth of USDT involved in crime in the past few months, including $225 million in November 2023 related to a US investigation into a human trafficking ring in Southeast Asia. The Campaign for Accountability, an ethics watchdog, appealed to the US Congress in November, asserting that Tron was implicated in several international legal interventions involving transactions by alleged organized crime groups and sanctioned entities worth billions of dollars. In March 2023, the Tron Foundation and its founder Justin Sun were sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly offering unregistered securities and engaging in manipulative trading, charges that Sun refutes.
Published At
2/22/2024 4:08:38 AM
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