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Tether Turns Tables: Cryptocurrency Colossus Dives into Bitcoin Bonanza

By WOM

May 17, 2023

SUMMARY

  • Tether, the heavyweight of the cryptocurrency world, declares its intent to invest a staggering $222 million into Bitcoin to back its dominant stablecoin, USDT.
  • The company's CTO, Paolo Ardoino, hails Bitcoin's growth potential and resilience, echoing the sentiments of influential market "whales."
  • Amid controversy and potential legal troubles, Tether is pivoting from riskier commercial paper reserves to the safety of U.S. government debt securities.

So, get this: Tether, the big kahuna of the cryptocurrency world, just announced they're dropping mad cash into Bitcoin. Like, we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars kind of mad cash. Why? They're looking to back the biggest stablecoin in the world.

They've got a plan, see: they're throwing 15% of their net profit into Bitcoin to jazz up the reserves that back their USDT token. It's all about keeping that 1-to-1 peg to the U.S. dollar. If we're talking numbers, that's about $222 million, according to the company's last report.

The folks at Tether started making some serious green from their USDT operation back in February, boasting a net profit of $1.48 billion in March. That shot their total excess USDT reserves to a staggering $2.44 billion.

Just to give you an idea of how big USDT is, it's currently rocking a circulating supply of more than $82.8 billion. It's jostling with rivals like Circle's USD Coin and Binance's BUSD. So why the investment in Bitcoin? Tether's CTO, Paolo Ardoino, says it's all about the potential, baby.

However, it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Tether. Its methods for maintaining that sweet $1 value for its token have raised some eyebrows. We're talking controversy over the quality of its reserve assets and investigations into possible bank fraud. But fear not, they're looking to calm those investor jitters by swapping out risky commercial paper for safe U.S. government debt securities.


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