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Cryptoverse: Tether's stability boosted amid doubts
As the U.S. banking crisis widens and regulators crack down on crypto firms, investments in the crypto space are shifting toward assets considered relatively safe. Tether has been the best performer among stablecoins, with its market capitalization surging since March.
Anders Kvamme Jensen, digital asset expert and founder of AKJ Global Brokers, said: "The banking crisis is fueling 'hyperbitification' - the inevitable outcome that the dollar will become worthless." Top cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Meanwhile, stablecoins like Tether (USDT) are seen more as a store of value, a tool to facilitate transfers between cryptocurrencies and as collateral for derivatives transactions.
Conor Ryder, a research analyst at digital asset data provider Kaiko, said Tether's premium reflects trust in its peg and perceptions of its security by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Jensen noted: “Tether is considered less US-oriented, which means less regulatory risk. Buying USDT and Bitcoin is effectively a vote against the US system.”
In CoinMarketCap’s database of 23,891 tokens, Tether (USDT) has risen to third place with a market capitalization of $82 billion and a share of 6.83%. (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/technology/cryptoverse-tether-gets-lift-stability-doubts-2023-05-09/
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Tether: Net profit of $1.48 billion in the first quarter, excess reserves of $2.44 billion
Tether released the first quarter of 2023 margin reserve certificate completed by BDO Italia, the world's top five independent public accounting firm. The attestation reconfirms the accuracy of Tether's Consolidated Reserve Report (CRR), which breaks down all assets held by the company as of March 31, 2023. For the first time, CRR offers additional categories designed to increase transparency in reporting on Tether reserves. Physical gold, debt repos, corporate bonds, and Bitcoin reserve ownership are listed separately. According to the report, Tether's excess reserves reached a record high of US$2.44 billion in the first quarter of 2023, and its net profit in the first quarter was US$1.48 billion.
Tether is well documented in the following aspects that it has had an excellent quarter: $1.48 billion net profit strengthened Tether’s reserves, and token circulation increased by 20%, which clearly shows the trust from Tether’s customers , very optimistic about the future.
Tether's combined total assets at the end of Q1 2023 are $81.8 billion. Most of its reserves are invested in U.S. Treasury bills. In addition, it has been working to take steps to reduce its reliance on pure bank deposits as a source of liquidity and instead use the repo market as an additional measure to ensure a higher standard of liquidity for its users by maintaining the required liquidity. asset protection.
Tether's reserves remain extremely liquid, with the majority of its investments held in cash, cash equivalents, and other short-term deposits (about 85%). This latest report demonstrates its commitment to transparency and highlights a 25% reduction in secured loans in total reserves to 6.5% from 8.7% in the asset class, as well as the highest percentage allocation of assets in U.S. Treasury securities to date. Gold and Bitcoin account for approximately 4% and 2% of total reserves, respectively. All newly issued Tether token reserves have been invested in U.S. Treasury bills or held in overnight repos.
The BDO independent certification also confirms that Tether’s total assets once again exceed its total liabilities.
As of May 9, 2023, the Tether management statement is as follows:
Group consolidated total assets of at least US$81,833,149,345
The Group's total consolidated liabilities amounted to US$79,390,359,036, of which US$79,372,401,626 related to the issuance of digital tokens.
Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino said: "We are very excited about Tether's tremendous success in the first quarter of 2023, with our reserve surplus reaching an all-time high of US$24.4 billion. Net profit for the quarter was US$1.48 billion, proving our The strength and stability of the platform. We will continue to monitor the risk and adjusted returns of all assets in our portfolio on an ongoing basis and expect to make further changes as the overall economic environment changes and market cycles progress, as our normal , ongoing risk management process. Tether will continue to assess the global economic environment and has taken necessary steps to ensure that its customers’ funds are not exposed to high risk situations. Looking ahead to the second quarter, our outlook is very Transparency. We have introduced new categories in the reserve breakdown in our quarterly reports to provide greater transparency to our users."
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Rome Blockchain Week 2023: CoinTelegraph Interviews Bitfinex and Tether's CTO Paolo Ardoino
CoinTelegraph spoke with Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex and Tether, at Blockchain Week in Rome, Italy, about how the hot BRC-20 token will affect the Bitcoin network, progress made at the Lugano Plan B Forum, and the future of MiCA regulation. How to influence the development of the cryptocurrency industry in Italy.
Cointelegraph Italia: You tweeted that in your presentation at Rome Blockchain Week you will be talking about BTC, Tether and freedom. How are these themes related to each other?
Paolo Ardoino: In my opinion, the financial world created by Bitcoin is not limited to transactions on the blockchain. Bitcoin is the freest currency transmission tool ever created. But beyond payments, we also believe that this tool is good for human-to-human communication. We have a perfect system: it is decentralized, unstoppable and secure. In the field of communication, Bitcoin can also make some amends to the world: let us see how Telegram, WhatsApp and other centralized chat systems are banned and controlled in some countries, at this time Bitcoin as a means of communication can Make up for the risk of centralization. Because we think that the concept of individual sovereignty can be translated into both financial freedom - the transmission of money - and freedom of communication - freedom of speech.
At Tether and Bitfinex, we invested in the development of a completely peer-to-peer technical solution, which has no possibility of being controlled or blocked by a centralized government or group (even if we have the technology), and with the same Bitcoin philosophy to develop and improve it.
Cointelegraph Italia: In the current market, the popularity of BRC-20 tokens has put the Bitcoin network in crisis - especially in terms of gas fees - how do you think Bitcoin can continue to ensure security and stability?
Paolo Ardoino: Actually, the concept of BRC-20 and Ordinals does not invalidate Bitcoin from a security point of view. Apparently, the problem we've had lately is that gas fees have increased for all Bitcoin users: everyone who has to do "normal" transactions and payments has found themselves with increased transaction costs. This is of course annoying if you need to make a transfer payment.
However, from my perspective, we have no control over how Bitcoin is used, nor can we make judgments about "right" and "wrong". If a feature exists, the user is entitled to use it. Bitcoin will always remain safe, it's the most secure solution available to us - and it's still scalable thanks to solutions like the Lightning Network. Recent events have shown that many exchanges have not implemented Bitcoin’s scalability solutions over the past four years. Having failed to do so, they have now had to temporarily shut down the ability to deposit and withdraw Bitcoin in response to skyrocketing transaction costs.
Cointelegraph Italia: Let's move on to the Plan B Forum and Lugano: how is the project going?
Paolo Ardoino: Very good so far. We now have more than 250 physical stores in the region accepting Bitcoin, Tether (USDT) and LVGA (the stablecoin of the city of Lugano). So far, although the project has just been born, the transaction volume has been very important.
People are interested in this new technology, they see it as a new experience. Demand is strong from foreign consumers, who are generally better informed about the crypto world. It is reviving the possibility of crypto payments, which is a positive factor both at the administrative level and from the perspective of local residents.
Cointelegraph Italia: Do you think merchants adopt Plan B for marketing purposes, or to really understand the benefits of the project?
Paolo Ardoino: From the very beginning, we envisioned a practical operation in Lugano. A lot of times, participants in economic forums travel around the world and take pictures with various ministers or famous people... that's what the event is about, that's all, but these things have no real utility. We put our heart and soul into a project, making important and sustainable efforts to make crypto payments possible in 250 stores. We believe that within a year we will have a thousand merchants adopting crypto payments, thus covering all merchants of essential services in Lugano.
The Plan B Forum event we held in October last year attracted a large number of Bitcoin supporters and influential people from all over the world from the perspective of philosophy and Bitcoin, which also brought great benefits to the city of Lugano. the value of. Another high-profile case: McDonald's in Lugano - two people were photographed buying coffee with Bitcoin. The video attracted millions of views around the world, and it was a way of making Lugano an important center in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. While the adoption of crypto payments is a time-consuming process that may take years to achieve significant results, we are on our way.
Cointelegraph Italia: Now let’s talk about Italy. How will the market change after Parliament approves the MiCA policy?
Paolo Ardoino: A few days ago I was in Brussels discussing the MiCA policy, in particular the regulation of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. This is certainly a promising policy framework, but in practice there are still some questions: for example, the criteria for everything related to complying with specific restrictions or controls is still rather vague, and the restrictions imposed on various cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are still unclear.
It is too early to discuss whether it will have a positive or negative impact on blockchain adoption in the real world. I think regulators should understand that it is also our job as crypto practitioners to talk and explain the benefits of this technology. Regulation is important, but it must support the technology itself.
Cointelegraph Italia: At Blockchain Week in Paris, you declared that USDT is the safest asset. Do you still think so?
https://it.cointelegraph.com/news/blockchain-week-rome-2023-intervista-paolo-ardoino
