Tether has $72.5 Billion Exposure to US Treasury Bills Showcasing ‘Safe Bet’ Strategy
Tether's "safe bet" strategy to acquire US Treasury bills | Credit: Shutterstock
Key Takeaways
- Tether is a top 22 US Treasury bills buyer globally.
- It exceeds purchases from the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Australia, and Spain.
- The issuer secures its future by relying on government guarantees.
- USDT shows signs of thriving despite a 98% depeg to the US dollar.
Tether CTO, Paolo Ardoino, tweeted to celebrate its exposure to US Treasury bills worth over $72 billion, exceeding ownerships by governments of other countries, including the UAE and Spain.
Ardoino also claims that “$USDt is the most used stablecoin in the world” while highlighting the stablecoin’s success in emerging markets.
While US government officials are still debating over the future of stablecoins in the market, Tether secures its future by relying on Treasury bills, backed by the US government.
Ardoino did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The State Of Stablecoins
Lately, government officials have been discussing stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to the US Dollar. Meanwhile, major financial institutions like PayPal, Tether, and Circle are increasingly interested in stablecoins.
PayPal announced the launch of PYUSD and immediately caught the attention of US government representatives.
Congresswoman Waters released a statement saying “Given PayPal’s size and reach, Federal oversight and enforcement of its stablecoin operations is essential in order to guarantee consumer protections and alleviate financial stability concerns.”
She also added, “Without legislation on the books that establish clear and strong consumer protections at the Federal level, consumers are at greater risk of harm at the hands of bad actors.”
“Stablecoins represent the issuance of a new form of money, making it integral that there are Federal guardrails.”
Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange by volume, shared a similar note when its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, commented on Tether’s stablecoin, saying: “I personally have not seen any audit reports of USDT. I don’t think most people I spoke to have not seen that either. So it’s kind of a black box because we just don’t know.”
Binance is killing off its native stablecoin BUSD and pushing its customers to invest in a Hong Kong-based stablecoin called FDUSD.
However, other members of the US government see stablecoins development in the US as the correct way forward.
Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry said in a statement: “We are currently at a crossroads to keep America at the forefront of digital asset innovation. Congress is making significant, bipartisan progress on legislation to ensure the U.S. leads the financial system of the future. We must finish the job.”
Stablecoins: The New Payment Standard
USDC, the runner-up stablecoin to USDT, issued by Jeremy Allaire’s company, Circle, has been making strides to expand its utility, especially in developing markets.
Circle also signed an important partnership with Shopify to launch USDT payments through Solana Pay, bringing the stablecoin to mainstream markets around the world.
Josh Fried, business development and partnerships director at Solana Foundation, told TechCrunch: “Some people argue that the killer app for crypto hasn’t arrived, but it has: it’s payments.”
Conclusion
While stablecoins launched by Tether and Circle may face serious scrutiny from government officials, their payment applications have been making strides to prove the viability of stablecoins.
Beyond securing partnerships both locally and overseas, Tether is securing its own “safe bet” by relying on government guarantees through Treasury bills that are subject to only federal taxes.
In the meantime, Circle’s USDC is in constant works to develop its own market by partnering with payment firms such as Shopify which hosts 10% of total U.S. e-commerce and is involved in $444 billion worth of global economic activity.
