$30M of Fresh USDT Has Just Been Minted at Tether Treasury

The cryptocurrency market may push further upward with news of another $30M USDT being minted at Tether Treasury. Although Tether is steeped in controversy, one can’t deny the close relationship between USDT and Bitcoin’s market movements. As BeInCrypto reported, Tether issuances have been correlated with 70% of Bitcoin’s rallies.

Fresh USDT Entering the Market

Now, it’s been confirmed that we will see another 30M USDT entering the market. Whale Alert (@whale_alert) is reporting that another batch of USDT has been minted. The response has been bullish.

💵 💵 💵 💵 30,000,000 #USDT (30,093,298 USD) minted at Tether Treasury

Tx: https://t.co/OrZISJq2HW

— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) December 20, 2019

pic.twitter.com/ElYtsasta1

— Diary of a REKT man (@diaryrektman) December 20, 2019

New USDT issuances have been stalling in the past few months. As BeInCrypto previously reported, Tether’s trading volume was stagnating as was its market capitalization. Large amounts of USDT have been swapped to Ethereum, however, including some 200M USDT which was moved in early December. Binance facilitated the token swap.

Tether Feels the Pressure from Coinbase’s USD Coin

Tether may also be feeling the heat from the Coinbase-backed USD Coin (USDC), which has been stepping up its issuances as we close out 2019. On December 4th, 19M USDC was minted at its treasury and on December 11th, another $2.8M worth of fresh USDC was also issued. December 16th saw another $1.5M of USDC enter the market. In total, the circulating supply of USDC is up 50% in 2019 and it has become the second-largest stablecoin in just a year. It’s quite possible that Tether is watching USDC’s increased trading volume and issuances with unease. The 30M USDT which was just minted is the first time the Tether Treasury has undertaken such a move in a long time and could be a sign that the stablecoin wars are already starting to heat up for 2020. For now, there is excitement over new money entering the market. Yet, let’s not forget that Tether is still embroiled in a serious lawsuit claiming $1.4T in damages. Bitfinex and Tether have also been exposed as being the same company in the notorious Paradise Papers. In short, the Tether issuances may move the market—but we should seriously be concerned about the long-term consequences.