Block0: We’ve reached peak Tether

Tether has hit its peak as the market begins to demand stablecoin projects which offer greater transparency to cryptocurrency traders, according to research by Swiss crypto fund Block0.

Tether, which is owned by Bitfinex, has registered phenomenal growth over the past year. It achieved this through direct partnerships with centralised exchanges such as Binance, Okex and Huobi. But due to the recent uncertainty around its future, on Sunday it broke its peg to the US dollar, as cryptocurrency traders lost confidence in the project.

Exchange, meanwhile, are busy onboarding alternatives. Binance has added competitors Paxos Standard and TrueUSD, while Okex announced that they will be adding Gemini USD, Paxos Standard, USD Coin, and TrueUSD to their exchange.

Over the last two weeks, there has been market demand for a new stablecoin increase, with TrueUSD, Gemini USD and Paxos Standard trading at a premium across a number of exchanges. On some exchanges, TrueUSD and Gemini Dollar have been trading at a 10% premium over Tether.

Breaking point

Block0’s founder Manu Andorra says: “We are observing a breaking point in the market for Tether. We have seen a prolonged period of uncertainty around Tether’s operations and with the introduction of competitors such as the Paxos Standard and TrueUSD, the market is moving towards the alternatives that put transparency at the forefront of their operations. Ultimately, all stablecoins are still experiments, and the market will benefit from a larger range of stablecoin solutions becoming available.”