TETHER

The crypto market is notorious for its volatility. The need to bring stability to the blockchain industry has led to the emergence of stablecoins. The term denotes digital currencies secured by real...

The crypto market is notorious for its volatility. The need to bring stability to the blockchain industry has led to the emergence of stablecoins. The term denotes digital currencies secured by real assets.

Tether is one such stablecoin equivalent to one US dollar. The idea is to combine the stability of real money with cryptocurrencies’ transactional capabilities.

General information

Created in 2015, Tether was originally called Realcoin. The project is incorporated in Hong Kong and has offices in the USA.

The project’s CEO is Jan Ludovicus van der Velde and its Chief Strategy Officer is Philip Potter. Many members of the Tether team are employees of Bitfinex, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

As of this writing, the coin’s market capitalization totals $2,687,331,785, its circulating supply amounts to $2,677,140,336 and general supply to USDT 3,080,109,502. The price is stable and varies a little bit around 1 dollar. Tether is traded at many crypto exchanges.

Advantages and disadvantages

Tether’s main advantage is that it enables the pricing of goods and services in currencies familiar to customers while reducing operational costs and cutting out intermediaries. Tether can also be used as a safe tool to manage customers’ assets via blockchain. Its other advantage is that it offers a sound alternative to regular interest-bearing accounts.

The system’s major flaw is its vulnerability to hacking. In November 2017, a mass-scale scandal broke out: hackers stole 30.9 million US dollars worth of tokens from Tether. In response to the hack, Tether suspended trading and the company’s representatives said they would develop new software to improve security. Also, the investigation conducted by Bloomberg reporters found evidence that Tether pricing was manipulated.

Future prospects

USDT charts clearly show that its price is going to be above $1. The candles demonstrate a bullish trend which is also confirmed by the 200th moving average. The key resistance level is at the $1,022 level and it has yet to be tested. According to WalletInvestor, the coin’s price is expected to grow against the US dollar by 0.55% within the next three months and by 1.34% within the next year.

Tether is a promising stablecoin that has had its negative moments, but what gives hope is that it is a very convenient coin financially. Who knows, the stablecoin technology may be a harbinger of the ice age, which according to many experts the crypto world is heading for...