Tether’s USDT has reached yet another major market cap milestone by surpassing the $115 billion mark. This achievement is a testament to the fact that stablecoins are gaining immense popularity in the market, especially during periods of high volatility when users rush to safer crypto assets.

USDT has become an indispensable part of the digital asset ecosystem, widely used for trading and as an outlet for investors during times of market uncertainty.

Source: IntoTheBlock

Resilience in the crypto market

Cryptocurrencies have shown excellent resilience in the market recently, with Bitcoin and Ethereum being some of the biggest in the market. Currently, Bitcoin accounts for around 54.4% of the market while Ethereum holds around 17.8%.

The combined market for all these digital assets is estimated at $2.11 trillion, with USDT ranking third among digital assets. This kind of increase highlights the growing relevance of Tether and the trust that traders and investors have in the stablecoin.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino was proud to reach this major milestone. He was quoted as saying that USDT has gone further than where it started. To give an idea of ​​how much this asset class has grown, it was able to generate a net profit of $5.2 billion in the first half, which it achieved with significantly less manpower than what major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance have. All thanks to a well-thought-out strategic investment portfolio and adapting to the rapidly changing norms in digital finance.

115

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) August 8, 2024

Expansion and Compliance

Banking on its recent success, Tether has outlined plans to expand its workforce to 200 employees by mid-2025. The headcount increase is intended to provide better compliance with regulators and improve operational efficiency.

According to Ardoino, the increase in staff would be done with a lean structure, although some staff would be introduced in the financial and compliance areas. It is also in the process of creating advanced tools for tracking illegal activities with USDT to prove that it is transparent and compliant with regulations.

Tether has been criticized for its potential use of its stablecoin for illegal activities. The company decided to voluntarily go ahead and freeze 50 million USDT directly related to transactions that were flagged as suspicious.

In the effort to achieve greater transparency and security, Tether has also partnered with a blockchain data protection company, Chainalysis. The goal is to develop secondary market protocols that will allow for oversight. This effort will further strengthen Tether’s fight against all forms of fraud and fraudsters, ensuring a secure platform.

1.3B $USDT has been transferred from #TetherTreasury on the stock markets since the stock market crash on August 5! photo.twitter.com/BYtMqgVRyZ

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 9, 2024

USDT: Innovation and Investments

Looking to the future, Tether is committed to focusing on market growth and innovation. This includes investing over $2 billion in several startups over the past two years in areas such as artificial intelligence and telecommunications.

Meanwhile, blockchain specialist Lookonchain noted that $1.3 billion worth of USDT was transferred to centralized exchanges including Kraken, OKX, and Coinbase during a larger crypto market boom.

Ardoino indicated that Tether’s self-investment will likely continue this aggressive trend of driving emerging technologies and new trends in the digital landscape. Such a proactive approach will not only solidify Tether’s position as a leader in the stablecoin market, but also secure its position as a major player in the rest of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Main image from Pexels, chart from TradingView