Tether (USDT) Treasury Refilled after Bitcoin (BTC) Price Recovery

The Tether (USDT) treasury wallet has been refilled as funds from the Bitfinex hot wallet were sent back into it. The latest transaction saw 35 million tokens moved on September 3, with Tether retiring another 40 million tokens the day before.

With the latest move, the treasury wallet now has more than 205 million tokens in it, around half the number before the series of interventions over the last few weeks. The latest round of injections into the Bitfinex hot wallet led to an increase in Bitcoin’s price, which crossed the $7,000 mark with ease.

But the more the price of Bitcoin (BTC) grows, the more obvious the influence of USDT becomes. As of September 4, more than 61% of BTC volumes were against USDT. The currency, which previously accounted for around 13% to 20% of trading, has displaced even the Japanese yen. In fact, the share of fiat trading has dwindled significantly in recent months, with CryptoCompare data showing yen trades down to 9.48% and dollar trading down to 17%.

The increase of USDT trading also coincides with a slide in fiat investments. In the past, Tether trading prompted cash investors to join. Korea was a leader in retail investment, with the won emerging as one of the most active fiat currencies paired with Bitcoin. Now, the share of the Korean currency has fallen to just 3.44% from around 20% of all trades.

Bitcoin responded to the new injection of Tether by rising as high as $7,317.94 on September 3, later retreating slightly around the $7,300 range. It seems the Tether activity of late could be attributed to the recent market recovery, with the ongoing relationship further supporting this theory.

It is still unknown if the available USDT is used to exclusively support Bitcoin’s price or to prop up altcoins as well. In some cases, USDT pairings account for a majority of trading volumes for many large coins. This additional liquidity has helped assets like EOS preserve some of their gains.

USDT has spread to most of the leading exchanges, so far displacing other dollar-pegged coins. The influence of the token cannot be denied. Yet despite some evidence that the Tether company may actually own cash to back up the tokens, the current state of the market uses USDT for speculative trading, without withdrawing into cash. In theory, USDT is supposed to be a decentralized asset, but the treasury wallet continues to act like a centralized agent with an aim to manipulate BTC’s price.

Neither the author nor the publication assumes any responsibility or liability for any investments, profits, or losses made as a result of this information. Cryptocurrency trading and investing are risky propositions, and market participants are advised to always conduct thorough research.