Tethers stablecoin USDT has hit a new milestone, surpassing a $120 billion market capitalization for the first time, possibly signalling positive sentiment for the broader crypto market.
In an Oct. 20 update to Tether’s website, which offers live updates of USDT’s supply, the stablecoin surpassed $120 billion market cap for the first time and has been steadily climbing.
Speaking to Cryptopolitan, Kadan Stadelmann, a blockchain developer, operations security expert and CTO of blockchain platform Komodo, said in the short term, USDT’s milestone is a “positive indicator that Bitcoin and the wider crypto asset index is moving into a new bull market.”
Stablecoins act as an on-ramp between fiat currency and digital assets. An increasing stablecoin supply is often seen as a signal of an impending bull run because it suggests investors are loading up on stablecoins before investing in crypto.
At the same time, a lack of stablecoin inflows can indicate that the market is undergoing a correction.
USDT is backed by Treasury bonds. For that reason, it has more backing than actual US Dollars. Since Tether earns 5% holding Treasury notes, they take their interest earned and buy Bitcoin.
– Stadelmann.
He added, “It’s a business model that has resulted in the stablecoin surpassing a $120 billion dollar market cap. The inflows have historically suggested people are anticipating a crypto bull market.”
According to Tether’s treasury inflows, a significant portion has been sent to centralized exchanges (CEXs). Arkham Intelligence data shows significant inflows into Coinbase, Kraken and Binance in the last week.
Stablecoins could be the future of money
Aside from potentially sparking a bull run, Stadelmann predicts that USDT’s growing market cap could be a sign of more significant changes to come in the crypto market.
Bitcoin’s mass adoption as a currency has been predicted as a possible endgame. However, Stadelmanns thinks USDT’s growing dominance might create an entirely different scenario.
Gresham’s Law says that a sounder form of money disappears from circulation when it competes with a lesser form. In a scenario of mass Bitcoin adoption, it stands to reason that the world will use USDT for transactions and hold Bitcoin as a mechanism to save.
In a Sept. 26 x post, on-chain data platform Token Terminal said Tether’s stablecoin now controls two-thirds of the market, following significant adoption over the past two years.
“On-chain numbers don’t lie. USDT has 330 million on-chain wallets and accounts as of Q3 2024, including four straight quarters where there has been an average increase of 9% and Tether’s best quarter yet—36.25 million users in Q3 2024,” Stadelmann said.
“There are still more off-chain users of Tether, who store their USDT with exchanges.”
Wider stablecoin market hits new highs
The total market capitalization of stablecoins has also reached a new all-time high of $171 billion after over a year of consecutive growth. DefiLlama data shows that the total stablecoin market cap is at its highest point ever, surpassing the last peak achieved in March 2022.
The market reached an all-time high of $167 billion in March 2022, but it dropped to $135 billion soon after.
The data excludes algorithmic stablecoins, whose value is maintained through algorithmic mechanisms rather than being pegged to external assets like fiat or gold.
Prices across the rest of the crypto market have dropped slightly in recent days. According to CoinMarketCap, the price of Bitcoin has increased steadily by 0.57% in the last seven days. It briefly crossed $69,000 per coin on Oct. 21 for the first time since June but has since retreated to around $67,000.
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