Stablecoin Tether Market Cap Nears Record High of $83 Billion

[ad_1]

Tether (USDT), the world’s largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, is surging, having weathered the Terra-induced turmoil of mid-2022. The market value of the stablecoin continues to rise and is now a hair’s breadth away from its all-time high.

Data from Coingecko shows Tether’s market capitalization has risen more than 20% to $80 this year, with the valuation jumping 12% in the past four weeks alone.

The increase means Tether’s market capitalization is down to just $3 billion from the all-time high of $83 billion reached in May last year.

Markus Thielen, head of research and strategy at crypto service provider Matrixport, said Tether’s valuation was boosted by “aggressive minting and issuing” on Tron Network, which has a bigger presence. in mainland China compared to Ethereum and a greater focus on movement. on the money.

According to data tracked by Matrixport, tether issued on Tron accounts for more than half of the stablecoin’s current market value.

As tether’s market cap jumped alongside rising bitcoin prices, the market cap of Circle’s USDC stablecoin, the world’s second-largest dollar-pegged coin, fell 27% to 32.5 billion. of dollars. Investors began fleeing USDC last month after Circle revealed it held $3.3 billion with the bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

Paxos’ centralized, dollar-pegged BUSD market value also fell 58% to $7 billion this year. In February, the New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos Trust Company to stop minting BUSD. Paxos, in response, stopped minting new tokens while promising to process redemptions until February 2024.

According to Matrixport, some USDC holders have likely diversified into tether and bitcoin.

“When news of unlimited support for bank deposits made the rounds, bitcoin prices exploded from $20,000 to $28,000 within days,” Thielen said in a note to clients Thursday. “But it looks like USDC holders either converted their Circle stablecoin to USDT from Tether, or they just sold $10 billion worth of USDC and bought bitcoin instead.”

[ad_2]