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Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino said that USDT is still seeing issuance, with $100 million in USDT issued recently.
Tether’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Paolo Ardoino made a statement on August 1 to correct reports that said that USDT has not been issued for two consecutive months. Ardoino responded to well-known Chinese reporter Colin Wu, saying that issuances continue, even if in smaller amounts. He also pointed to blockchain transaction information that showed issuances, with 100 million being issued two days ago.
USDT is the market’s most active stablecoin, with a market cap of over $62 billion. The nearest competitor is USD Coin (USDC), with a market cap of approximately $27 billion. USDT’s market cap has doubled since the start of the year.
Tether has minted new tokens consistently over the past 12 months, and this has been a warning sign for some. It has experienced an enormous amount of criticism, sometimes being labeled a fraud and at other times doubt being cast over its reserves. Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, has called the uncertainties surrounding Tether FUD that would not affect bitcoin.
Some of those criticisms go back years, but Tether intends to put some of them to rest soon with a soon-to-be-released audit. Tether and Bitfinex have also reached a settlement with the New York Attorney General, paying $18.5 million in penalties.
The future of stablecoins
But there may be a wave of good news coming in for Tether. General Counsel Stuart Hoegner, speaking on CNBC, said that an audit could arrive in a matter of months. This would put to rest a considerable amount of the concerns surrounding the digital currency, which has had to endure a tumultuous few years.
At one point, Tether caused quite a stir when co-founder William Quigley said that it didn’t matter if USDT was backed by an equal amount of dollars. Investors have only been paying more attention since. Should Tether manage to show that it has all the dollar reserves it needs to match its supply, investors will be far happier.
Tether will be following the likes of USD Coin, which published a transparency report as it attempts to promote accountability and transparency in the space. The report noted that over 60% of the USDC supply was backed by cash or cash equivalents. This seems to be becoming an important part of the space, and Tether will want to take its own steps related to it.