Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has continued to break new records in 2023, adding at least $20 billion to its market capitalization so far this year.
According to blockchain data provider Whale Alert, Tether has minted 22.75 billion USDT so far this year, with at least 4 billion USDT issued in the past four weeks.
At the beginning of the new year, Tether USDT’s market value was approximately US$66 billion, and has been growing steadily since then, with its market value exceeding US$80 billion in April 2023. On November 14, the market value of USDT briefly touched US$87 billion. according to Data from CoinGecko.
A Tether spokesperson said USDT’s continued growth should be attributed to two key reasons, including continued market excitement surrounding the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
“Institutional investors are seeing growing interest in Bitcoin amid excitement over the possibility of a Bitcoin ETF,” a Tether representative said.
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A Tether spokesperson said that growing demand in emerging markets has also driven Tether’s record-breaking growth. The representative stated that the USDT stablecoin has been “increasingly becoming the de facto digital dollar for all emerging markets and developing countries,” adding:
“In fact, many countries’ national currencies are depreciating against the U.S. dollar, so all communities living in these countries are looking for protection…USDT is their most trusted asset.”
Tether cited public information from the Brazilian government that Tether USDT accounts for 80% of all cryptocurrency transactions in Brazil. “This pattern is similar to dozens of other countries,” the representative noted.
While Tether has been experiencing this surge, some major stablecoins like Circle’s USDC (USDC) have failed to gain much momentum in 2023. After reaching a peak of $55 billion in June 2022, the USDC market value gradually declined and continued to decline in 2023. By 2023, USDC’s market value has lost $20 billion, or about 45%. As of this writing, USDC has a market capitalization of $24 billion, according to Go to CoinGecko.
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