Tether Dominance Reaches 71% as Market Cap Surges to Report $95B: Glassnode

Tether, the entity liable for the USDT stablecoin, has skilled a surge in market dominance from 50% to a formidable 71% all through 2023, as reported by Glassnode.

In the meantime, Tether’s development has managed to draw dangerous actors equivalent to criminals, cash launderers, and scammers in Southeast Asia, in keeping with a United Nations report printed on Monday.

Tether (USDT) Surpasses $95 Billion Market Cap

Within the newest improvement in Tether’s ascent, on the night of January 12, the corporate generated an extra $1 billion, which increased the market capitalization of USDT to an unprecedented $95 billion.

In distinction to Tether’s exponential growth, its closest competitor, Circle, liable for the USDC stablecoin, lately filed for an preliminary public providing (IPO) with the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee (SEC).

Regardless of this transfer, Circle has solely 27 billion tokens in circulation, beginning 2023 with a complete of 48 billion USDC, considerably lower than Tether’s dominant market place.

Moreover, Tether’s monetary success extends past stablecoins, with its Bitcoin funding portfolio valued at roughly $three billion as of January 4, 2024, proving to be a considerable supply of revenue.

Paolo Ardoino, the long-serving Chief Know-how Officer (CTO), assumed the CEO position on the finish of the earlier yr, succeeding Jean-Louis van der Velde. Since taking up this new position, Ardoino has actively strengthened ties with U.S. regulation enforcement companies.

The transfer is exemplified by collaborative efforts resulting in freezing wallets linked to the U.S. Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management’s (OFAC) sanctions record, ensuing within the seizure of over $435 million in illicit funds.

Tether (USDT) Use Surges Amongst Dangerous Actors

In the meantime, some reports declare that Tether’s widespread use has grow to be evident within the escalating quantity of cyber fraud, cash laundering, and underground banking instances in Asia.

These instances embody a spread of schemes, together with “sextortion,” a type of blackmail that threatens to reveal sexual content material or private data, and “pig butchering,” a socially engineered romance geared toward constructing belief earlier than extracting cash.

Whereas felony teams in Asia are more and more using USDT, Tether has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with U.S. regulation enforcement and regulatory authorities. In response to data from Dune Analytics, Tether has taken proactive measures by banning greater than 1,260 addresses linked to illicit actions. The overall USDT in these banned wallets has exceeded $875 million.