Study: 80% Of Tether (USDT) Concentrated On 318 Addresses

Massachusetts-based research company Coin Metrics claims in a report published by Bloomberg that there are only 318 addresses containing Tether (USDT) worth at least $1 mln. Together, this volume comprises 80% of the total supply of Tether.

Coin Metrics co-founder Nic CARTER further noted that some of these USDT whales include large crypto exchanges such as Binance and Bitfinex. The report also notes that this is very different from the distribution of bitcoins (BTC), where whales hold only about 20% of the total supply. More than 20,000 BTC addresses reportedly contain coins equivalent to at least $1 mln.

University of Texas at Austin finance professor John GRIFFIN commented on the fact presented in the report:

“The concentration of Tether suggests that control of Tether is in the hands of a few central players who can swing Bitcoin prices, and have a vested interest in doing so [...] It also suggests that many exchange players have a vested interest in keeping the Tether game going.”

The professor believes that the USDT is associated with market manipulation and played an important role in the market rally to the historical maximum in 2017. Sid SHEKHAR, co-founder of TokenAnalyst, also notes that whenever a large amount of USDT is injected, the market experiences high volatility.

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