what is tether usdt 
usdt is the symbol for tether a cryptocurrency that is pegged to the u s dollar this means usdt is a stablecoin fluctuating in value with the u s dollar and backed by tether s dollar reserves usdt is issued by tether a company owned by ifinex the hong kong registered company that also owns the crypto exchange bitfinex as of march 2024 usdt was the third largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin btc and ethereum eth and the largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of nearly 99 billion 1 in 2023 and early 2024 tether s usdt accounted for most of the exchanges out of other cryptocurrencies by volume 2understanding tether usdt usdt or tether belongs to a fast growing type of cryptocurrency called stablecoins which avoid the extreme volatility of untethered cryptocurrencies most commonly by tying their values to the price of a traditional currency like the u s dollar tether was launched as realcoin in july 2014 and was rebranded as tether usdt in november 2014 originally based on the bitcoin blockchain tether now supports bitcoin s omni and liquid protocols as well as the ethereum avalanche kava polka tron eos algorand and solana blockchains 3tether also issues tokens pegged to the euro the offshore chinese yuan the mexican peso and gold none with more than a fraction of the market cap of its u s dollar pegged usdt tokens 456a pegged currency is often backed by reserves made up entirely or mostly of the pegged currency a number of fiat currencies are pegged to the u s dollar including those of panama and saudi arabia this protects the currencies from extreme fluctuations in value as their trading values move with the usd the same price stability underlies pegged cryptocurrency tether s transparencytether updates a breakdown of its reserves holdings daily on its website as of march 3 2024 it reported assets of 99 45 billion for usdt the company reported holding 84 58 of its reserves in cash cash equivalents short term deposits and commercial paper 76 87 of this was in u s treasury bills it also held 0 05 of its reserves in corporate bonds 3 62 in precious metals 2 91 in bitcoin 4 95 in secured loans to unaffiliated entities and 3 89 in other investments 6while tether promotes that it backs every usdt with an equivalent amount of currency this isn t entirely the truth as the numbers above show however it has usually honored its 1 to 1 commitment 7a stable value promotes using stablecoins as a medium of exchange like conventional money in practical terms stablecoins have made it easier to speculate in cryptocurrency markets their rapid growth in popularity is also the result of stablecoins use as collateral by decentralized finance defi lending and staking protocols tether historyin november 2017 tether reported the electronic theft of 31 million in usdt tokens the company implemented a hard fork a security technique that involves splitting a blockchain into two streams 8by then the company was already dealing with questions about the adequacy of its reserves and as subsequent investigations would show having trouble accessing banking services 9in april 2019 new york attorney general letitia james obtained a court order enjoining tether and bitfinex parent ifinex from further violations of new york law it had been determined that bitfinex had borrowed at least 700 million from tether s reserves to offset bitfinex corporate and client funds frozen and ultimately seized from its panamanian banking partner crypto capital corp in a money laundering probe 10tether is a chartered member of the blockchain alliance a coalition that works to promote blockchain development and its legal uses 1112in february 2021 tether and bitfinex settled the case by agreeing to pay a fine of 18 5 million discontinue trading with any new york state residents or entities and furnish information about its reserves to the new york attorney general s office for the next two years 13in october 2021 the u s commodity futures trading commission cftc announced that tether agreed to pay a 41 million fine over claims that tether stablecoin was fully backed by u s dollars in fact tether held sufficient fiat reserves in its accounts to back usdt tether tokens in circulation for only 27 6 of the days in a 26 month sample time period from 2016 through 2018 according to cftc bitfinex agreed to pay a 1 5 million fine to settle separate cftc allegations as part of the settlement 14in may 2022 tether s price briefly fell to as little as 0 96 following the terrausd ust peg loss even though it wasn t an issuer affiliated with tether or bitfinex the price of tether tokens quickly rebounded to more than 0 99 and tether said it was continuing to honor redemption requests at a 1 to 1 ratio to the u s dollar 7tether also launched mxnt a stablecoin backed by the mexican peso following earlier expansions into europe eurt and china cnht 4in 2023 tether expanded into artificial intelligence by acquiring northern data group 15 it appointed a new ceo paolo ardoino its former chief technology officer and a staunch cryptocurrency and blockchain financial solutions advocate the same year a lengthy lawsuit against tether and bitfinex was finally concluded following judge laura swain s dismissal of the claims in november 2023 the company also continued participating in several measures to enhance cryptocurrency security educate users and legislators and cooperate with law enforcement agencies 16