Crypto veterans highly praise USDT amid market drama, why?
“Tether has been ahead of the curve,” says Bitcoiner Brad Mills; it looks like the Ethereum (ETH) founder agrees with him for the first time ever
As all mainstream cryptocurrencies bled in recent days, many crypto users decided to increase the share of stablecoins in their portfolios. As such, the FTX/Alameda collapse compounded all the failures of this very important segment of Web3.
Tether (USDT) exceeded Vitalik’s expectations
For many crypto holders, US Dollar Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, was a “safe haven.” Users started aggressively buying USDT on centralized and decentralized exchanges. Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin appreciated the way Tether (USDT) has weathered recent disasters.
I have to admit that I have been very critical of @Tether_to lately, and their transparency is still nowhere near what I think an asset-backed coin should have, but especially given what’s happened to so many other big-money hotshots this bear, they’ve exceeded my expectations!
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) 9 November 2022
He admitted that USDT’s transparency leaves something to be desired, but the coin and its issuer “exceeded” the deep decentralization advocate’s expectations.
It should be added that on November 10, 2022, in the middle of the market carnage, representatives from Tether (USDT) gave their periodic certification.
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New #tether the certificate is out!! (As of 30 September 2022)
As promised, CP was reduced to 50m (0 as of now).
Increased US T-BILL.
60m more in excess of reserves for a total of 250m.
Increased proportion of cash and cash equivalents to 82%.
Proud of the team’s work! 🔥— Paolo Ardoino 🍐 (@paoloardoino) 10 November 2022
As highlighted by Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether and Bitfinex, Tether Limited increased its share of cash and its equivalents to an all-time high of 82%.
Think twice before “shorting” Tether
Another Ethereum (ETH) veteran, Mikko Ohtamaa, CEO and co-founder of Trading Strategy and former LocalBitcoins CTO, admitted that it would take a huge amount of money to put Tether (USDT) in an FTX-like liquidity crisis.
1/ Based on the latest Tether certificate, it has $40 billion in US Treasury bills.
It would take redemptions of $40 billion before Tether faces a liquidity crisis. pic.twitter.com/D38enMBffn
— Mikko Ohtamaa 🐮 (@moo9000) 11 November 2022
He emphasized that in 2022 there are no markets where whales can short USDT to cause the issuer to collapse. A well-balanced portfolio of reserves makes the whole system sustainable.
Regarding this vexing issue of transparency about Tether (USDT), its resources and operations, Mr. Ohtamaa highlighted that it is increasing over time:
Lying is becoming increasingly difficult.
However, Tether (USDT) remains vulnerable when it comes to hypothetical regulatory attacks (“police shutdown”) or potential deals between Wall Street investment banks.
“USDT is preferred by the market”: Bitcoin AND Brad Mills
Bitcoiner and crypto guru Brad Mills agrees with Ethereums: Tether (USDT) looks so sustainable to him that long-term decoupling from the USD price is almost impossible.
🚨USDT only fell last night because someone attacked the pin to make money.
There is no real risk of USDT having a persistent depeg due to these attacks.
During extreme events (Celsius, Luna, FTX), mercenaries manipulate the fungibility of USDT through DeFi pools as baskets. pic.twitter.com/j3rGoE2MLf
— Brad Mills (🔑,🧀) (@bradmillscan) 10 November 2022
Tether (USDT) can only be dismantled briefly, and is targeted by coordinated attacks. As covered by U.Today yesterday, November 10, 2022, an Alameda-affiliated address allegedly began “shorting” Tether (USDT) through the Curve and Aave pools.
However, USDT quickly recovered to its “normal” $1 level. In contrast, algorithmic stablecoins FRAX, MIM and especially Tron’s USDD witnessed more notable damage, as well as low-cap Euro-pegged stablecoin Eurocoin (EUROC).
Mr. Mills appreciate the proactive work of Tether Limited and the structure in Q4, 2022, of their rebalanced portfolio of reserves:
Through this extreme contagion in both macro and crypto markets, Tether has been at the forefront, reducing its certificates and increasing its US bonds.
As such, Tether’s (USDT) operations during the ongoing market frenzy are being recognized by opposing groups of Web3 players.
