Everything You Need To Know About Tether (USDT)

Tether (USDT) is the most popular stablecoin and the fourth-biggest cryptocurrency at the moment. Stablecoins are the less volatile assets within cryptocurrency.

What is Tether?

The fourth-largest cryptocurrency is a bit different from Bitcoin and Ethereum. As defined by Investopedia, Tether (USDT) is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency whose tokens in circulation are backed by an equivalent amount of U.S. dollars, making it a stablecoin with a price pegged to USD $1.00. The difference between stablecoins like Tether and Bitcoin or Ethereum is that you can expect their prices to stay stable, making them, like I said, less volatile.

Stablecoins often have their value pegged to another asset, like Tether to USD, or to other crypto, precious assets or a combination of all. At the moment, fiat currencies like the USD are the most popular option. Stablecoins were created to reduce the volatility in the crypto space.

History of Tether

Tether was created in 2014, where it was launched as RealCoin in July of the same year. It was later rebranded as Tether in November by Tether Ltd., and the first tokens were distributed in 2015 on the Bitcoin network. Tether Ltd. is the company responsible for maintaining the reserve amounts of fiat currency.

Tether is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies and probably the first successful stablecoin. Currently, the market cap of Tether is over $73 billion.

Where/How to Buy Tether (USDT)

USDT can be bought on major crypto exchange platforms like Binance, Kraken, CoinSpot, and BitFinex.

The Controversy Behind Tether (USDT)

Tether’s success didn’t come without a few hinges. In fact, as quickly as it rose to fame, controversies followed, no doubt due to the intens scrutiny it got being the first successful stablecoin.

• In its earliest years, there was a rumor that Tether was being artificially pumped into the market to create liquidity and that it was a massive force behind the biggest cryptocurrency’s run up to $20,000.

• In 2017, the company allegedly lost $31 million worth of Tether coins to hackers, after which they were forced to perform a hard fork.

• In 2019, New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the parent company of Tether of hiding a loss of $850 million dollars of corporate funds from investors. They finally settled with James earlier this year, after agreeing to pay $85 million and cease all trading operations with New Yorkers.

• In 2018, Tether was rumored to have lied about being fully backed by USD. Attorney James said: “Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie.”

Where is Tether At Now?

Despite the controversies, Tether is the fourth-biggest cryptocurrency at the moment, according to coinmarketcap, though it is subject to change spot at any time. Its overall market cap is above $73 billion and it is the most popular, most successful stablecoin.

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