- Stablecoin is growing rapidly
- Some sellers are “dumping” the asset’s stock even with small losses
- Paolo Ardoino says that Tether can handle any withdrawal requests</nbsp;
- And the current market situation is just a speculation boom
- But fears among traders are only getting stronger
Rumors are spreading online that a crisis is brewing in the USDT market.. Over the past few days, the number of sellers in Curve Finance and Uniswap pools has increased dramatically. Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino calls for calm.
Some numbers
As of Thursday morning, June 15, USDT’s share of the “3pool” pool on Curve Finance rose to 72.84%. PeckShield Alert, among others, pointed this out. In total, the pool contains USDT in the amount of $300 million. By comparison, DAI and USDC are at $54.4 million and $56.4 million, respectively.
The price of the USDC/USDT trading pair on the Binance platform continued to rise, according to journalist Colin Wu. This morning it reached a yearly high, breaking the ceiling of $1.0034. In fact, USDT “sagged” by 0.3%.</nbsp;
In Aave v2, USDT deposit and loan rates rose 20% and 30%, respectively.. There is a tendency in the markets when traders intensively “drain” the asset, in some cases with small losses.
There are also traders who are trying to make money on the situation. A certain CZSamSun borrowed 31.5 million USDT on Aave v2 against a deposit of 17 thousand ETH and 14 thousand stETH. He then exchanged the funds he received for USDC on the 1inch platform,
He placed 10 million and 21 million USDC in v2 and v3 protocols, respectively. After that he borrowed additional 12 million USDT from v3 and transferred tokens to v2.
20 minutes later another address already pledged 52.2 thousand stETH through Aave v2, then borrowed 50 million USDC. He converted these tokens in batches to USDT using a small depeg. For each such operation, you can get from 1 to 8 thousand USDT. What is the risk now?
The flooding of pools by USDT sellers could lead to the fact that the asset will lose its connection to the USD.. This has been seen three times in the last two years – with the Terra collapse, the FTX bankruptcy and the liquidation of Sillicon Valley Bank.</nbsp;
The last few days have seen net USDT inflows to 3pool, and it is one of the largest in the DeFi sector, increase significantly:
This confirms the conclusion outlined above. Sellers are dumping the USDT in droves.
What this may be due to is not yet known. But the market is “feverish,” which means there is turbulence ahead for traders.
At the time of writing, the USDT has fallen to 0.996. This is the most significant “drawdown” in the last year:
How did Tether explain it?
This morning, June 15, company CTO Paolo Ardoino interjected in an attempt to calm the audience. He explained the current state of the market as follows:
“The markets are a little ‘nervous’ these days, and speculators easily take advantage of that to their advantage. But at Tether we are ready, as always. Let them come.. We can buy back any amount.”
In a media commentary, Ardoino said that the USDT segment serves as a kind of “reflection” of the market as a whole. If the demand for cryptocurrency grows, the position of stabelcoin strengthens. If it falls, the pressure on liquidity increases.
He urged the audience not to panic. According to the company’s CTO, the current volatility is temporary and USDT will not lose its bind.
Is there more to it?”
Some cryptocurrency influencers and media outlets have said that the company could be under pressure. More than once there has been talk of possible regulatory interest in the firm.
This is easily explained by the fact that Tether is the segment leader, as well as the main payment system for cross-border transfers, including in sub-sanctioned jurisdictions.
In May, for example, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler called Tether “a giant house of cards.”. And before that, the media covered the information that the company gained access to the U.S. market through the payment system Signature. Meanwhile, even some politicians in the U.S. believe that the bank was shut down because of ties to the “troubled” sector.
And, of course, we must not forget the report of Transparency International, published in March of this year. In it, the agency claims that Tether, albeit not directly, is helping Russians circumvent sanctions.
But this is just a statement of unconfirmed facts. However, the situation indicates that the USDT market is on the verge of shocks, and this should be taken into account.