Tether, the issuer of the widely used stablecoin USDT, executed a significant cross-chain transfer on November 6, 2024, moving over $2 billion worth of USDT to the Ethereum network. The transaction was made on behalf of a large, unnamed exchange, which transferred USDT holdings from cold wallets to Ethereum.
As part of the swap, Tether moved 1 billion USDT from the Tron network, 600 million from Avalanche’s C-Chain, 300 million from NEAR, 75 million from Celo, and 60 million from EOS. Despite the magnitude of the transaction, Tether assured the public that this swap would not affect the overall supply of USDT.
The announcement comes amid heightened scrutiny of Tether, following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that the U.S. government is investigating the company for potential money laundering and sanctions violations. This news briefly caused a dip in the crypto market, leading to concerns about the company’s stability.
In an effort to ease these concerns, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino addressed the issue during an event in Switzerland, providing detailed information about the company’s reserves. Ardoino stated that Tether’s assets backing USDT include approximately $100 billion in U.S. Treasury bills, 82,000 Bitcoin (valued at $6.2 billion), and 48 tons of gold, which has recently surged to a record price of $2,790 per ounce.
Tether’s USDT recently reached a market cap of $120 billion as of October 2024, reflecting robust trading activity. However, according to data from Chainalysis, stablecoins like USDT are increasingly being used as a store of value, particularly in countries experiencing currency devaluation.
This major cross-chain transfer not only underscores Tether’s dominance in the crypto space but also serves as a reassuring move for investors, particularly amidst the growing regulatory challenges surrounding the stablecoin.
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