Tether Plans to Burn 220M USDT After Printing 120M USDT Yesterday

Tether Treasury has been ramping up its stablecoin issuance in the past month and a half. As BeInCrypto reported recently, the largest stablecoin has issued over $1 billion in USDT in just the past 25 days or so. That’s a staggering amount. As of now, Tether has a market capitalization of close to $7.4 billion, according to its own transparency report.  Yet, it continues to issue USDT at an accelerating rate.

Another 120M USDT Minted, Plans to Burn Some

Yesterday, the cryptocurrency community was unsurprised to find out that Tether was minting another $120M. The issuance was picked up by Whale Alert (@whale_alert).

As Tether continues to issue more and more USDT, criticisms on Twitter have gotten louder and louder. Each Whale Alert notification is now barraged with critics who find that Tether’s money-printing has gone too far. However, Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino continues to ignore them and always posts his standard follow-up reply: that this is all a mere “inventory replenish.” Interestingly, every ‘inventory replenish’ seems to be the same amount, as well: 120M USDT. This morning, Tether also announced that it would be burning some 220M USDT.

The timing of the burning after issuing more USDT is curious, and the reason is curiously unknown.

Tether’s Critics

In the past two months, we have seen a surge of stablecoins flooding the market. However, Tether obviously leads the pack. Although Tether’s money-printing last month was at first a curious peculiarity, many are now being more forthright with their criticisms. Not only has the stablecoin never been audited properly by a third-party, but it now represents so much value in the cryptocurrency network; and as its market capitalization grows, the stakes continue to get higher. Tether’s fall would ultimately wreak havoc on the market, especially now, so such concerns are valid. Tether Treasury is now an admitted extension of the exchange Bitfinex, but this basic fact was not admitted until it was revealed in secret documents. The fact that Bitfinex and Tether used newly issued USDT to cover up $850M in lost funds, as per a New York court case, is telling of how the stablecoin operates. USDT is now flooding the market in record amounts. Exchanges are stocking up on the stablecoin like never before. However, many questions remain unanswered, and Tether’s critics are only getting louder.