Summary: USD Coin (USDC) will be supported on six additional blockchains, including Cosmos, NEAR, Optimism, Polkadot, and Polygon PoS, as Circle aims to boost adoption for the stablecoin and differentiate it from its competitors.
The combined footprint of Japan and China in the US Treasury market is at its lowest on record, leading to speculation that they may sell dollars and liquidate US Treasuries to support their currencies without causing significant market disruption.
Tether maintains a liquidity cushion of nearly $3.3 billion to provide stability and trust in its ecosystem, with reserves totaling $86.1 billion, confirming a backing of over 100%.
Coinbase plans to list PayPal's stablecoin, PYUSD, signaling the convergence of traditional finance and the crypto economy and potentially challenging Tether's dominance in the stablecoin market.
Circle's USD Coin (USDC) has experienced a significant drop in market cap due to factors such as the depegging event earlier this year, rising interest rates, and differences in issuance models compared to Tether's USDT stablecoin, which recently reached a new high in market cap at $83 billion.
Despite efforts by countries like China and Russia to reduce the dominance of the US dollar, its share in global payments has reached a record high, with 46% of foreign-exchange payments in July involving the greenback, according to SWIFT data.
Tether (USDT) is the world's largest stablecoin with over $66 billion in market capitalization, despite controversies surrounding its collateral and reserve holdings.
The largest stablecoin, USDT, has been depegging throughout August, leading to concerns about its stability and trustworthiness, with factors such as the redemption fee and minimum requirements being identified as potential contributors to the issue.
The amount of stablecoin USDT on crypto exchanges is increasing, which is seen as a positive sign, while the supply of Bitcoin and Ethereum on exchanges is decreasing, indicating strong holding sentiment and potential future buying interest.
PayPal's stablecoin ambitions are driven by potential savings on multicurrency transactions, but Tether co-founder William Quigley believes it is unlikely to bring much innovation and may primarily serve as a cost-saving measure for PayPal. Quigley explains that stablecoins allow PayPal to bypass financial intermediaries, conduct transactions on its private blockchain, and eliminate fees associated with currency conversions. He also highlights the potential profits that stablecoin operators can earn from interest-rate increases.
Blockchain trackers have flagged a $1 billion authorization of Tether (USDT) in Tether's Treasury, which will be used to replenish the Tron network for issuance requests and chain swaps.
Despite announcing its plans to eliminate secured loans, Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, has experienced a rise in such loans in 2023, with $5.5 billion of loans in its recent quarterly report, although it aims to reduce this to zero by 2024.
Tether, the firm behind stablecoin USDT, has made a strategic investment in crypto miner Northern Data Group in support of artificial intelligence initiatives and potential collaborations involving AI, P2P communications, and data storage solutions.
