Leading stablecoin issuer Tether minted 1 billion USDT tokens on the Ethereum network earlier today as Bitcoin dropped below $28,000. Confirming the new mint in a tweet, the company’s chief technology officer, Paolo Ardoino, stated that it was done for inventory replenishment.
Ardoino further noted that the replenishment was authorized but not issued. He explained that the minted USDT would be used as inventory for the “next period issuance request and chain swaps.”
Tether’s USDT stands as the biggest stablecoin in the crypto world, as it has maintained a level of stability in recent times amidst the banking system uncertainty that affected Circle’s USDC. USDC depegged from its 1:1 dollar valuation last month following exposure to Silicon Valley Bank’s liquidation.
Tether Shows Ethereum Dominance
USDT has dominated every stablecoin on the Ethereum network, owning a majority of US-pegged tokens on the blockchain. With over 35 billion tokens on Ethereum, USDT is miles away from its counterparts on the network.
Tether’s closest competitor in terms of presence in the Ethereum network is USDC, which has nearly 30 billion minted in the blockchain. Paxos-issued BUSD, which has stopped minting, has less than seven billion tokens on the Ethereum network.
Tether’s dominance in the market translated to its balance sheet as the stablecoin posted a $700 million profit in the first quarter of this year, matching the figures it posted in the last quarter of 2022. Ardoino claimed USDT is the safest asset in the world to hold, an ego boasted by the consistency of Tether for some time now.
Not Just on Ethereum
The dominance of Tether is not just tied to the Ethereum network but to multiple chains in the crypto industry. USDT constitutes over 81.5 billion dollar-pegged tokens, the biggest by a huge margin. Second to USDT is Circle’s USDC, which does not have up to 30 billion dollar-pegged tokens.
An interesting report from BDC Consulting also shows that Tether’s supply correlates with Bitcoin’s price. According to the report, if Tether were to depeg, Bitcoin and other crypto assets would come crashing down.
