Why is there controversy?

1. Do they make bombastic claims?

While Tether makes no claims about promises for high returns (due to it being a stable coin). They do claim the token is backed by actual dollars, but an audit revealed that tether is only backed 74% (more on this in section 8). Still, there is no promise from leadership that investing in Tether will yield high returns

2. Is there a tiered-referral system?

3. Where can it be traded?

USDT is the most used cryptocurrency, having surpassed even BTC in daily traded volume, with a majority of users relying on it to transfer value between exchanges because of its stability. It’s the 3rd largest crypto by market cap (as of 3:50 pm EST 6/10/20) & traded on many exchanges

4. Is it legal in the US & other regulated countries? Why or why not?

Well, yes, and no.

Legal controversy has surrounded Tether since accusations that Tether was used to manipulate the price of bitcoin in 2017. Additionally, NY Attorney General filed a suit in April 2019 accusing Bitfinex of using Tether’s reserves to cover up a missing $850 million

While USDT can be held in some custodial wallets (like Coinbase) that allow US customers, the exchange most commonly associated with Tether (Bitfinex) stopped serving US customers on August 15, 2018 stating “Exchanges based in the U.S. are better positioned to properly service retail U.S. customers”

Additionally, Tether’s legal terms indicates that U.S. residents (with an extra emphasis on inhabitants of NY) are prohibited from holding USDT tokens in Tether’s wallet. As the wording in the legal document is somewhat confusing, I reached out to Stuart Hoegner – the team’s chief legal counsel – for clarity. He responded on Twitter saying,

Pursuant to @Tether_tos terms of service, U.S. persons (as defined in the TOS) are not permitted to use our services. That includes U.S. residents (see para. 1.1.46.1)…. The NY prohibition is broader, but for individual residents of the U.S. – whether in NY or not – it amounts to the same thing.”

This is likely related to rules and regulations of the SEC and the allegations brought against the firm by NY’s AG.

5. Do actual experts promote it?

Not exactly: traders use it (because it's very useful for trading!), but using tether is not necessarily an endorsement of it.

6. Who are they marketing to? Noobs or saavy buyers?

I’d say they are primarily marketing to traders and others who want the ease of transferring money offered by cryptocurrency without the potential volatility, meaning those who are transferring large sums of money. IMO these are not typically noobs

7. Who is on the team? Are they real, pseudonymous, or fake?

8. Have the founders made claims that have since been proven to be false?

Yes, Tether's founding team originally claimed that USDT was backed 1-1 with dollars, but in March 2019 team attorneys discovered that wasn't true. Tether changed their statement, claiming instead that the token's stability is backed by a combination of dollars and loans to affiliate companies. In April 2019, Tether's attorney claimed each Tether was backed by $0.74 in cash &/or cash equivalent, which is fractional reserve lending that many take issue with as it's part of the problem with the Federal Reserve

For more information about allegations of false claims and how various journalists and researchers have reached those conclusions, please view the Tether (cryptocurrency) wiki, and refer to the notes for sources.

9. Do they have a functioning blockchain or token?

Yes, USDT is the most used cryptocurrency. Additionally, Tether Limited has 4 tokens: 2 are pegged to the US dollar, and 2 are pegged to the euro. 1 of each is issued on the bitcoin blockchain using the Omni Layer Protocol, and 1 of each is an ERC-20 token

10. Check github repository for relevant activity

11. Look up the smart contract

Available here on etherscan.io.

12. Listen to your gut/instinct

Created using free & open source software.

Hosted on the decentralized web.

Tether is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency that has its roots in the U.S. It has some controversial history, as it was one of the first cryptocurrencies to peg its value directly to an existing fiat currency. Originally, each Tether token was said to be valued at $1 in U.S. currency, though that backing has since changed. These tokens, which were formally known as “Realcoin,” currently trade under the ticker USDT. Investing in cryptocurrency has become very popular, and a financial advisor can help you get started.

Tether is an open source, peer-to-peer blockchain digital currency. Blockchain allows data to be stored in multiple locations in chronological order. It’s used to protect the system from being overtaken by a single entity. Many cryptocurrencies use blockchain outside of Tether.

Tether is, in theory, tied to a fiat currency, which is the U.S. dollar. As a result, Tether is referred to as a “stablecoin.” This is different from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, whose prices fluctuate significantly and whose value is determined on a more speculative basis. That said, a report from CryptoCompare shows that nearly 80% of Bitcoin trading is done in Tether, making it a major source of crypto liquidity.

This type of crypto is designed to be literally tied to the value of the fiat currency that it represents. In other words, each U.S. Tether token is supposed to be worth $1 at all times. However, this has been the subject of some controversy. In 2019, Tether revealed that it wasn’t 100% backed by fiat currency, and that each U.S. Tether token was backed by closer to $0.75.

Currently, there are four Tether stablecoin currencies: USDT (tied to the U.S. dollar), EURT (tied to the Euro), CNHT (tied to the Chinese yuan) and XAUT (tied to one ounce of gold per token).

Like many cryptocurrencies, you can buy Tether through any global exchange, like Kraken, Binance or Kriptomat, for example. Most global cryptocurrency exchanges work similarly. You create an account, fill out your personal information and fund your account using fiat currency. You can then use the funds you deposit to buy cryptocurrencies such as Tether.

Keep in mind that you’ll be buying Tether from a brokerage and not directly from the blockchain. Once you own Tether on a global exchange, you can trade it at its market value or buy more. You may also want to use a cryptocurrency wallet to store your crypto holdings.

You cannot buy fractional shares of Tether, and there is no fixed amount of the cryptocurrency available. Tether also cannot be mined.

Tether tokens are issued by Tether Ltd. It was created in 2014 under the name Realcoin, and it rebranded to Tether thereafter. Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins and Craig Sellars are the co-founders of the cryptocurrency, which first launched on the Omni Layer of the Bitcoin blockchain. It began trading in 2015.

The founders launched three types of Tether, each tied to a different fiat currency with each token said to be worth one unit of said currency. Currently, it is the largest stablecoin in terms of market capitalization. It is also a part of other protocols than the Omni Layer of Bitcoin, including Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, TRON, EOS and Liquid Network.

Tether hasn’t been without its issues, though. Most notably, in 2019, iFinex Inc., the parent company of Tether Ltd., was accused of trying to cover up an $850 million loss by taking over around $700 million of Tether’s cash reserves and using it to repay investors. It wasn’t clear if there was any wrongdoing, though Tether vehemently denied it in the court filings. According to the company, the money had simply been seized and safeguarded.

In 2017, Tether went through an alleged hacking where over $31 million worth of tokens were stolen. After this event, the company didn’t perform an audit that was designed to ensure it would have enough in reserves. The company even went as far as to fire its audit team, with the issuing of a subpoena coming not long after.

Tether is less volatile than many other cryptocurrencies, simply because it’s directly tied to a fiat currency. So, if you’re thinking of buying or trading Tether, you shouldn’t expect a windfall or the type of volatility you might see from a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Dogecoin.

In addition, there are very little speculative elements to Tether, which makes it a relatively safe and stable cryptocurrency investment. Some even consider it akin to buying and holding cash or another foreign currency. If you anticipate large fluctuations in the market for the U.S. dollar or the Euro, for example, this could be a worthwhile investment.

Tether is a common type of cryptocurrency, making it one of the more recognizable names in the crypto space. Despite a handful of controversies that the currency and its company have run into, it has still proven to be a rather secure and stable cryptocurrency. Again this is mainly due to the fact that it is tied to the value of existing fiat currencies. That means it’s not subject to intense market swings like Bitcoin can be.

Tether is immensely popular and easy to buy on any cryptocurrency exchange. So if you’re interested in getting into the crypto game, this could be a good place to start.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/primeimages, ©iStock.com/metamorworks, ©iStock.com/ayo888

Tether, the biggest stablecoin by market capitalization, recently announced that it launched the Tether USDT cryptocurrency on Solana, which has become the 7th network to support the stablecoin.

The stablecoin is already supported by the Ethereum, Tron, Algorand, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni, and Bitcoin Cash networks, which has allowed the currency to reach a market capitalization of over $37 Million and occupy the 4th spot in the cryptocurrency ladder.

The Solana Token, SOL, saw its price spike after the announcement by reaching a value of $16.32, the closest the token has got to its all-time high of $18.12 back on February 24th.

Tether expects that with the addition of USDt to Solana, users will be able to enjoy the speeds of more than 50k transactions per second and low fees the network offers, facilitating the adoption of the currency and boosting innovation in spaces like Decentralized Finance (DeFi).

The addition of USDt support has proven to be beneficial for networks that have integrated in the past by attracting investors who see the stablecoin as safe haven in times of high market volatility, as well as crypto enthusiasts that rely on the stablecoin due to its 1-on-1 peg to the US dollar.

Back in late February, Tether announced that there were forged documents circulating online that aimed to undermine Tether and cryptocurrency’s credibility.

The group behind the extortion was asking 500 BTC to be sent to prevent the leak of the documents, which according to them could “harm the bitcoin ecosystem”.

Tether stated that they believe the extortion was a “pretty sad attempt at a shakedown” but it was being taken seriously, with all the information being forwarded to law enforcement for an investigation to take place.

The alleged documents supposedly show an email thread in which a Tether employee’s communicated with a representative from Bahamas bank Deltec would put in doubt the companies claims of its currency’s backing.

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) campaigns are not unusual in the cryptocurrency ecosystem but attempts to extortion companies of the size of Tether are pretty unusual.

However, as the cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to grow and more attention is paid to companies behind the projects, these types of actions are expected to increase.

Despite being the most popular stablecoin used by millions, Tether has been in the eye of controversy since its inception in 2014 due to its claims of being backed by US dollars, which has been contested by multiple experts.

The controversy recently resulted in New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, investigating Tether’s operations and going as far as branding the company as “fraudulent” back on February 23rd and imposing an $18.5 million fine.

The reason behind the assertion was that Tether had been operating with the funds that backed the cryptocurrency by interacting with Bitfinex, which according to the attorney general was not aware of the location of the money during the investigation.

While Tether and Bitfinex settled with the general attorney’s office, both companies were banned from offering trading services in the state. Both companies denied any wrongdoing and claimed to pay the fine to “put this matter behind”.

Tether also agreed to disclose additional information about its reserves every quarter to the attorney general’s office and its users, increasing transparency to regain investor confidence.

The stablecoin is seen by many as one of the most influential forces in the crypto market, with personalities like Vitalik Buterin going as far as calling it a “ticking time bomb demon” when referring to the Bitcoin ecosystem, as it has proven to have a considerable impact on the most popular coin’s performance.

The market capitalization of Tether (USDt), the largest stablecoin, has surpassed $40 billion, according to the issuer's transparency page, after reaching $30 billion less than two months ago. It remains the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, behind only Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance Coin. USDt has now matched the market cap of PayPal-owned e-commerce company eBay, and it is close to surpassing the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. Circle's USD Coin (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin, also recently reached $10 billion. Tether's market cap was only $4.6 billion one year ago.

While Tether is frequently facing baseless accusations of propelling the market with its "printer," the demand for USDt actually comes from users who use stablecoins to purchase different cryptocurrencies or park their gains. USDt is, by far, the largest cryptocurrency by daily trading volume, with Bitcoin coming in a distant second place ($86 billion and $57 billion, respectively). Tether is also popular with deep-pocketed buyers who choose over-the-counter (OTC) trading desks. By avoiding exchanges, they can be sure that their large trades will not be displayed on publicly-available order books, which helps to make sure that they will not influence the market.   OTC platforms play a major role in China, where cryptocurrency trading has been banned since September 2017. Hence, Asia remains the biggest market for Tether. As reported by U.Today, iFinex, the parent company of Tether-affiliated exchange Bitfinex, reached a settlement agreement with New York Attorney General Letitia James a month ago. The settlement barred the stablecoin issuer from operating in the state known for its harsh regulations.

Fresh from a lawsuit, the company behind the Tether cryptocurrency has confirmed that an accounting firm assured that its assets exceed liabilities. They, however, failed to specify what assets backed the so-called stablecoin.

Tether, unique among its peers, is the fourth most widely held crypto with Ethereum coming second. However, the coin has gained much speculation for years that it wasn’t backed one on one with dollars as it so claimed. As part of the settlement for allegations that it did not come clean on reserves or fund loss, the company agreed to give New York quarterly reports.

The assurance provided by Cayman Islands-based Moore Cayman is not part of the reporting requirement to New York. The assurance is not an audit. Moore Cayman report noted that the group’s reserves held for its digital assets issued exceed the amount required to redeem the digital asset tokens issued as of Feb. 28.

The document added that Tether Holdings Ltd. had been the defendant in two cases at the reporting date, and there was no contingent liability. We can, however, expect another assurance issued on assets and liabilities for a date in late March and from then quarterly, starting in June, according to the company.

The working of the crypto ecosystem somewhat depends on Tether. According to researcher CryptoCompare, about 55 percent of all Bitcoin transactions are Tether made.

According to data tracker CoinMarketCap.com, Tether, with market values of more than $40 billion, is the 4th largest cryptocurrency in the world. Its market value in the past year has increased almost ten times, comparable to Bitcoin’s rise.

The New York Attorney also charged Bitfinex for engaging in undisclosed, conflicted transactions to cover its losses by transferring money from Tether’s reserve funds. Tether allegedly transferred at least $700 million, with Bitfinex attempting to cover a loss of $850 million.

They allegedly carried out the alleged fraud through Bitfinex’s partnership with Crypto Capital Corp., a payment processing company based in Panama that mixed customer funds with its capital.

The users of Bitfinex could also swap fiat currency for virtual currency (for example, US dollars, Euros, etc.), and vice versa. To do this, Bitfinex relied on making deposits and withdrawals possible with third-party payment processors. It was difficult to find banks willing to undertake these businesses in 2017 and 2018 because they were perceived to be highly risky and surprisingly unsurprising.

As of the settlement date, Bitfinex admitted to no wrong doings and would similarly file financial details quarterly and present them to the New York Attorney General.

The market capitalization of Tether’s USDT stablecoin surpassed $40 billion, data from industry aggregator Coinmarketcap shows, further helping it cement its position as the world’s largest stablecoin.

The ‘Tetherization’ continues at a pace with many crypto exchanges denominating pairs in USDt rather than bitcoin, the token issuer said.

Looking Forward to Meeting You at iFX EXPO Dubai May 2021 – Making It Happen!

“USDt is increasingly being used in remittances and innovative projects in the digital token ecosystem, including those in the nascent space of decentralised finance (DeFi),” they added in a statement.

In March 2020, Tether’s market cap was $4 billion! Since then, we’ve seen 900% growth in only one year! 👩🏽‍🚀🚀

Stay up to date on our official Telegram channel ⬇️https://t.co/137b5oOauU pic.twitter.com/DTZ0aO8Cm0

— Tether (@Tether_to) March 24, 2021

How are Different Technologies Impacting the Lives of Traders & Brokers?Go to article >>

Tether, which is closely affiliated with crypto exchange, Bitfinex, works across a diversity of different blockchains, including Algorand, Bitcoin Cash’s SLP, Ethereum, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni and Tron.

Tether, currently ranked the 4th biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, has been rising rapidly in the last two months amid growing institutional and corporate demand. Year-to-date, the token added $20 billion, which is greater than the combined market capitalization of all rival stablecoins.

For comparison, the market cap of this dollar-pegged coin stood at $20 billion as of January 1. Then, it soared to $26 billion a month later and then hit $35 billion in March. Tether has seen more than half of its aggregate market cap achieved in the last three months.

Additionally, the recent rally was supported by the news that Bitfinex allegedly paid back another $550 million to Tether, now covering more than 100 percent of its $750 million loan facility they took out two years ago.

Bitfinex, who shares a parent company with Tether, agreed in February to pay $18.5 million to settle New York’s Attorney General’s allegations that they lied about their reserves.

Demand for USDt in the e-commerce and payments space has been surging as the token allows relevant users to avoid volatility. Moreover, online retailers and payment gateways benefitted from faster cheaper transactions compared to credit cards and traditional payment systems.

This fantastic milestone was driven by growing interest in decentralised finance (DeFi) and OTC desks that use the token to settle block trades over-the-counter.

Commenting on the news, Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether, said: “Crossing US$40 billion represents an important milestone for Tether. Our growth reflects the pivotal role Tether plays in the overall digital token ecosystem. People like using Tether. Whether you are a trader, developer or part of the growing numbers using Tether for payments and remittances, there are myriad of benefits to using the most liquid, stable and trusted stablecoin.”

Tether recently announced the launch of their tokens on Solana.  Thus, USDT holders will now be able to take advantage of Solana fast speeds greater than 50,000 transactions per second, often for as little as $0.00001 per transaction.

For clarity, Solana, is an ultra high-speed Layer 1 blockchain.  Following this integration the speed is going to be faster than before.  This is encouraging as more of apps with high speed and low cost can be launched in the decentralized space.

It is important to reinstate that in addition to Solana, USDt also supports Algorand, Ethereum, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni, Tron and Bitcoin Cash’s Standard Ledger Protocol.

Solana is a fast growing blockchain in terms of market capitalization and also usage.

Paolo Ardoino recently expressed that:  One of the best feelings is seeing people that work with you achieving life goals they worked so hard for. Bitcoin is the land of opportunities.

In response to Bitfinex, which pointed to $60,000 as being the highest all-time high for BTC, and a further thought on whether BTC will hit $100K in 2021? Paolo Ardoino was wondering that $100K is a bearish number by stating Why so bearish?

Paolo very firmly believes that it is very hard to compete with Bitcoin.  In the past he has stated that “Bitcoin is the foundational base layer for this ecosystem to eventually supersede the entire payments and credit card industry.”

However, some of the BTC users are happy and also feel confronted at the same time.  It is noteworthy that several technical indicators are on a higher time frame and bullish.

The coming of $fUSDT has been an exciting news because it is the first and only official cross-chain $USDT wrapper. This is born from the collaboration between @AndreCronjeTech @paoloardoino and @PopsicleFinance.  Now users will be able to use $USDT everywhere.

Paolo expressed his excitement by stating:  Frapped! Slurp! Reliable and affordable cross-chain swaps are a holy grail. Great to see this happening.

Users will now be able to harness the power of USFT liquidity cross-chain on EVM compatible blockchains.

The fUSFT contracts are between BSC – Binance Smart chain, Fantom – fUSDT token contract on Fantom blockchain , Multichain – contract audit.

While all these are happening, some of the news outlets opine that China might target Tether after Digital Yuan Launch – B2C2 Japan CEO.

Reportedly, Philip Gillespie, the CEO of the crypto liquidity provider B2C2 Japan has expressed that that the Chinese authorities might seek to ban the USD-pegged stablecoin – presumably in an effort to drive up the usership rates of the forthcoming central bank digital currency. We need to wait to see how stuff unfolds.

After a steady rise, the total amount of the world’s largest stablecoin Tether [USDT] in circulation has soared all the way to $40 billion. With this, the token climbed back to the fourth spot on the cryptocurrency leaderboard.

Exactly a year ago, Tether’s dollar-linked stablecoin, USDT’s market cap stood at around $4 billion. Since then, the stablecoin saw an astonishing growth of 900% in only one year.

Historically, Tether has often inclined positively from US Dollars value. Hence, it is no surprise that the latest figures came right after the demand for cryptocurrency surged following hints of a long-anticipated recovery.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin has regained some of the lost momentum as it climbed to the $57,000 level on Wednesday. This came after the manufacturing giant, Tesla chief Elon Musk announced that people can now start purchasing the firm’s electric vehicles using Bitcoin.

According to the exec, Tesla is using internal and open-source software and operates bitcoin nodes directly. He went on to add that Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin and will not be converted to fiat currency.

Soon after this, the crypto-asset noted a minor uptick of 3% over the 24-hours.

Over the years, USDT has become an important form of liquidity in the crypto industry that is transferred between different exchange platforms and wallet addresses to buy Bitcoin and other digital assets.

The demand for USDT in the e-commerce and payments realm cannot be ignored. This has been on the rise for quite some time now. The main factor that driven the demand was the fact that the token essentially enabled relevant users to fend off volatility.

In addition, online retailers and payment gateways have also leveraged not just efficiency related to time but also cost of transactions which have been way cheaper as opposed to credit cards and traditional payment mechanisms.

Yet another milestone that played a crucial role in bolstering its USDT’s demand this bull season is the rising interest in decentralized finance [DeFi] as well as the over-trade counters [OTC] desks that leverage the token to process block trades.

In fact, the whole stablecoin market is seeing rapid surges in terms of valuation especially in tandem with Bitcoin’s price action.

Other stablecoins have also noted a considerable increase in terms of market cap. Circle’s USD Coin [USDC] is the second-largest stablecoin which recently surpassed $10 billion in valuation. It is now the 12th-largest crypto-asset by market cap behind DeFi token Chainlink and Litecoin.

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Hermez Network – a layer 2 throughput solution for moving tokens and ether on the cheap – is now live on the Ethereum mainnet.

The network – which will be used by stablecoin giant Tether – will initially support five assets including ether, wrapped bitcoin, dai, tether and the hermez token, the team said in a press release. Support for more assets will be added in the coming months.

“As exorbitant gas fees continue to cripple the community, we must bring scalability and cheaper transactions to Ethereum now,” Hermez tech lead Jordi Baylina said in a statement. “We are now inviting developers, projects and users from around the world to join us on this journey towards a significantly cheaper and decentralized future.”

Rollups are quickly becoming the preferred solution for Ethereum’s transaction bottleneck problem, both in the zero knowledge proof (zk-rollup) and Optimistic rollup (ORU) flavors. A recent rise in user activity spiked gas prices throughout the early winter months, prompting a move to rollups.

These throughput tools increase how many transactions can be settled on the Ethereum blockchain by moving transactions off-chain, bundling them and sending them back to Ethereum for settlement. Andreessen Horowitz-backed Optimism and Union Square Ventures-backed Matter Labs are the industry’s two heavyweights in the field. 

Hermez itself is a zk-rollup, meaning it uses mathematical proofs to verify and settle transactions.

The startup behind Hermez is also debuting a new open-source software donation scheme. 40% of all transaction fees paid to the network will be directed to Gitcoin, a Boulder, Colorado-based startup for funding decentralized software.

Tether (USDT) could emerge as an unlikely target for the Chinese central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), when it rolls out its digital yuan ahead of next year’s Winter Olympic Games, an industry player has opined.

Speaking to Bloomberg (via Sankei Biz), Philip Gillespie, the CEO of the crypto liquidity provider B2C2 Japan stated that the Chinese authorities might seek to ban the USD-pegged stablecoin – presumably in an effort to drive up the usership rates of the forthcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC).

The digital yuan is currently in advanced pilot testing at multiple locations throughout the nation, and the PBoC has committed to a full rollout ahead of the Olympics, slated to be held in Beijing in February 2022.

Multiple experts have claimed that central banks will likely come hunting for crypto when they issue their own CBDCs, and could seek to ban or marginalize cryptoassets and stablecoins – stating that this, in fact, constitutes one of the biggest existential threats to bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins.

China, in its September 2017 crypto crackdown, banned the exchange of fiat yuan into cryptoassets, but informal trading has thrived ever since. Some reports have even claimed Chinese users on platforms such as Huobi’s Huobi OTC are forced to pay a “tether premium” of up to 2%, with many traders in the mainland using the stablecoin as a gateway for BTC trading.

Buying BTC using USDT is often the most direct channel to trade in the token for users in Mainland China.

But a digital yuan launch would likely see the PBoC come after anything it perceives as a threat on the digital asset and currency front. While some have posited this could mean the end for e-pay giants like the Ant Group-operated Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay, the B2C2 Japan chief stated that tether too may become a target, opining that China could ban tether altogether, which could increase risk levels “for anyone looking to continue using tether.”

Gillespie claimed, that “once the digital yuan rollout is complete, it will be one of the biggest risks for cryptocurrencies,” adding that it would “draw liquidity” trading platforms, potentially leading to “panic sales.”

Gillespie, a former Goldman Sachs FX team leader, joined B2C2 in 2018. The firm, which is UK-headquartered, was snapped up by the Japanese securities and crypto giant SBI in an M&A deal last year.

Cryptonews.com has contacted Tether for comment. ___ Learn more: – Imagine Regulators Shutting Tether Down – What Happens to Bitcoin? – Ethereum’s Buterin Says Tether Is Bitcoin’s ‘Ticking Time Bomb Demon’ – Tether’s Supply Dominance Hits Record Low as USDC & Co Rise – Tether & Bitfinex Settle NY AG’s Probe, Expect More Transparency – Stablecoins May ‘Penetrate Non-Crypto Markets’ & Surpass USD 100B in 2021 – Digital Yuan Must Dethrone Alipay, WeChat Pay Before Taking on USD – Researcher

Source

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); As crypto appetite grows, the market’s leading stablecoin, USDT, has hit yet another significant milestone.

Tether (USDT), the world’s most liquid stablecoin, reached $40 billion in market capitalisation on Wednesday, reflecting the year-long exponential rise in cryptocurrency investment.

According to CoinGecko, Tether’s market value hit $40.1 billion at its peak on Wednesday, rendering it the fourth-largest crypto asset behind Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Binance Coin (BNB).

Tether is four times higher than the USD Coin (USDC), which has a market value of about $10 billion, in terms of stablecoin rankings. According to Messari, USDT supremacy is currently about 67 percent.

Tether’s market capitalisation has increased by a factor of ten in the last year, reflecting the phenomenal success of the cryptocurrency market. The estimated crypto market cap reached $1 trillion for the first time in January, before reaching $1.8 trillion earlier this month.

In March 2020, Tether’s market cap was $4 billion! Since then, we’ve seen 900% growth in only one year! 👩🏽‍🚀🚀

Stay up to date on our official Telegram channel ⬇️https://t.co/137b5oOauU pic.twitter.com/DTZ0aO8Cm0

— Tether (@Tether_to) March 24, 2021

Since its availability represents the market’s appetite for cryptocurrencies, USDT is regarded as a bellwether stablecoin. On several global exchanges, including Bitfinex, which has one of the most liquid BTC markets in the world, USDT is the quotation currency for cryptocurrencies.

Nonetheless, the stablecoin has been the target of extreme criticism in the past due to reports that it is just closely pegged to the US dollar. Its connections to Bitfinex, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, have also drawn a lot of attention to USDT.

Most of the confusion, anxiety, and scepticism were alleviated earlier this month when Bitfinex and Tether reached a settlement with the Office of the New York Attorney General in a lawsuit against Tether. As part of a compromise, the firms were required to pay $18.5 million and to disclose their reserves every quarter for the next two years.

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Paolo Ardoino stated, reading the news today made me laugh thinking: karma is a bitch. If you point the finger for years to other exchanges saying they are not as holy as you, better have your ducks in a row.

One of the user in turn replied, “So between the lines, u admit wash trading on bitfinex, do u?”

Another user commented stating:  Even more pathetic is the coverage of CoinDesk. “old trading practices”, “traded small amount”, self-traded in quotes etc. Such a brown-nosed garbage.

Paolo in response stated, “Well you know.  Not all the stink smells bad.”

He also recently commented about the different crypto project white papers calling it is P2P.

Perhaps he implied Paper to Paper, stating they are copied.  One of the user commented, stating, “P2P = pay 2 participate /play.”

Also, about withdrawing Bitcoin Paolo stated, Withdraw Bitcoin via Lightning Network from Bitfinex via 0 fees. This he stated in response to an old published content on: “Exchanges with support for bitcoin Lightning network payments.”

The content on cointastical has been updated on March 9, 2021.

The caution reads thus: Caution: “Some Altcoins exchanges include a cryptocurrency with the symbol “LBTC” for “Lightning Bitcoin”. This is NOT the same as bitcoin on Lightning network. That currency symbol is for a small value Altcoins that has no relation to the bitcoin Lightning network. There is another currency symbol that may be similar, L-BTC, and that too is unrelated to bitcoin on Lightning network. The L-BTC symbol is used by exchanges which support bitcoin on Blockstream’s Liquid Network.”

Further states, Exchanges where you can buy and/or sell bitcoin using Lightning network: “Bitfinex – No KYC.”

This is not the only exchange named in the list, there are other exchanges named in the list.  Now, if you take the time to explore the updated list they are talking about different exchanges and different methods.

They are talking about P2P Trading Exchanges with base currency support for Lightning Network. Then, they have also spoken about crypto-to-crypto methods, debit cards funded using lightning network, Lightning network wallets, and lot of stuff.

Probably, this list irked Paolo up about him talking about.  Not all the stink smells bad.

Well, the tribalism in social media is so strong and harsh that it moves leaders to lose their cool and ultimately get confident to spit hot fire.  However, in a world of quick communication, angry reactions pulling off the table cannot be avoided.

Tron – Tron – What Is It, History and How to Buy | Fintech Zoom

Tether: What Is It, History and How to Buy

Tether is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency that has its roots in the U.S. It has some controversial history, as it was one of the first cryptocurrencies to peg its value directly to an existing fiat currency. Originally, each Tether token was said to be valued at $1 in U.S. currency, though that backing has since changed. These tokens, which were formally known as “Realcoin,” currently trade under Fintech Zoom USDT. Investing in cryptocurrency has become very popular, and a financial advisor can help you get started.

What Is Tether?

Tether is an open source, peer-to-peer blockchain digital currency. Blockchain allows data to be stored in multiple locations in chronological order. It’s used to protect the system from being overtaken by a single entity. Many cryptocurrencies use blockchain outside of Tether.

Tether is, in theory, tied to a fiat currency, which is the U.S. dollar. As a result, Tether is referred to as a “stablecoin.” This is different from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, whose prices fluctuate significantly and whose value is determined on a more speculative basis. That said, a report from CryptoCompare shows that nearly 80% of Bitcoin trading is done in Tether, making it a major source of crypto liquidity.

This type of crypto is designed to be literally tied to the value of the fiat currency that it represents. In other words, each U.S. Tether token is supposed to be worth $1 at all times. However, this has been the subject of some controversy. In 2019, Tether revealed that it wasn’t 100% backed by fiat currency, and that each U.S. Tether token was backed by closer to $0.75.

Currently, there are four Tether stablecoin currencies: USDT (tied to the U.S. dollar), EURT (tied to the Euro), CNHT (tied to the Chinese yuan) and XAUT (tied to one ounce of gold per token).

How to Buy Tether

Like many cryptocurrencies, you can buy Tether through any global exchange, like Kraken, Binance or Kriptomat, for example. Most global cryptocurrency exchanges work similarly. You create an account, fill out your personal information and fund your account using fiat currency. You can then use the funds you deposit to buy cryptocurrencies such as Tether.

Keep in mind that you’ll be buying Tether from a brokerage and not directly from the blockchain. Once you own Tether on a global exchange, you can trade it at its market value or buy more. You may also want to use a cryptocurrency wallet to store your crypto holdings.

You cannot buy fractional shares of Tether, and there is no fixed amount of the cryptocurrency available. Tether also cannot be mined.

Tether History

Tether tokens are issued by Tether Ltd. It was created in 2014 under the name Realcoin, and it rebranded to Tether thereafter. Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins and Craig Sellars are the co-founders of the cryptocurrency, which first launched on the Omni Layer of the Bitcoin blockchain. It began trading in 2015.

The founders launched three types of Tether, each tied to a different fiat currency with each token said to be worth one unit of said currency. Currently, it is the largest stablecoin in terms of market capitalization. It is also a part of other protocols than the Omni Layer of Bitcoin, including Ethereum, bitcoin cash, TRON, EOS and Liquid Network.

Tether hasn’t been without its issues, though. Most notably, in 2019, iFinex Inc., the parent company of Tether Ltd., was accused of trying to cover up an $850 million loss by taking over around $700 million of Tether’s cash reserves and using it to repay investors. It wasn’t clear if there was any wrongdoing, though Tether vehemently denied it in the court filings. According to the company, the money had simply been seized and safeguarded.

In 2017, Tether went through an alleged hacking where over $31 million worth of tokens were stolen. After this event, the company didn’t perform an audit that was designed to ensure it would have enough in reserves. The company even went as far as to fire its audit team, with the issuing of a subpoena coming not long after.

Should I Trade or Sell Tether?

Tether is less volatile than many other cryptocurrencies, simply because it’s directly tied to a fiat currency. So, if you’re thinking of buying or trading Tether, you shouldn’t expect a windfall or the type of volatility you might see from a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Dogecoin.

In addition, there are very little speculative elements to Tether, which makes it a relatively safe and stable cryptocurrency investment. Some even consider it akin to buying and holding cash or another foreign currency. If you anticipate large fluctuations in the market for the U.S. dollar or the Euro, for example, this could be a worthwhile investment.

Bottom Line

Tether is a common type of cryptocurrency, making it one of the more recognizable names in the crypto space. Despite a handful of controversies that the currency and its company have run into, it has still proven to be a rather secure and stable cryptocurrency. Again this is mainly due to the fact that it is tied to the value of existing fiat currencies. That means it’s not subject to intense market swings like Bitcoin can be.

Tether is immensely popular and easy to buy on any cryptocurrency exchange. So if you’re interested in getting into the crypto game, this could be a good place to start.

Tips for Investing in Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency investments are extremely attractive, but they’re much harder to understand than a simple stock or bond. That’s where a financial advisor who’s familiar with crypto can be an important partner for you and your family. Luckily, finding the right financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors in your area in just five minutes. Get started now.

Whether you’ve been investing in cryptocurrency for years or are just getting started, it pays to be prepared. SmartAsset’s free investment calculator can help you determine what kinds of returns you need to reach your goals.

Where there’s money being made, you’ll likely find Uncle Sam nearby. Investing is no different, and hitting it big on the stock market can lead to sizable taxes if not handled correctly. Use SmartAsset’s capital gains tax calculator to figure out how to minimize your taxes.

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