Stablecoins in focus – Tether USDT’s latest minting play and what it means

  • USDT mints have totalled $16 billion since Bitcoin’s $74k peak
  • Whale activity increases as Bitcoin and USD liquidities move in correlation 

As a seasoned crypto investor with over a decade of experience navigating the volatile and ever-evolving digital asset landscape, I find myself intrigued by these recent developments. The surge in USDT minting, coupled with the increased whale activity on centralized exchanges, is reminiscent of a well-choreographed ballet – albeit one with significant financial implications.


Over the past 13 hours, as an analyst observing the blockchain, I’ve noticed that the Tether Treasury has minted a billion USDT on Ethereum. Interestingly, they transferred approximately 183.2 million USDT to Cumberland for exchange deposits. This insight is based on my analysis using SpotOnChain’s data point X.

After the crypto market’s dip on August 5th, Cumberland has received approximately 953 million USDT from Tether and has injected around 906.7 million USDT into several different exchanges. These exchanges include popular platforms such as Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Binance, and Bullish.com.

Stablecoins in focus – Tether USDT’s latest minting play and what it means

Moreover, Tether (USDt) has now been added to the TON blockchain, which has propelled USDT’s total market capitalization to a record-breaking $115.6 billion.

In simple terms, when you include today’s additional $1 billion from Tether, this brings the total amount minted since Bitcoin reached its peak of $74,000 up to a staggering $16 billion.

With major financial entities gearing up for market entry, their influx of funds might potentially escalate prices, given the liquidity at hand. The recent Tether update serves as an indicator of heightened “whale” presence on centralized exchanges, facilitated by swift transactions.

Continuous coin production aligns with the latest market uptrends, bolstered by robust and streamlined systems such as Multi-Party Computation (MPC) wallet providers, custodians, and Remote Procedure Call (RPC) solutions. In simpler terms, this results in increased transactions on centralized exchange platforms.

Therefore, it’s likely that these minting activities and transactions will continue to influence the pace of the cryptocurrency market.

Stablecoins in focus – Tether USDT’s latest minting play and what it means

A hike in whale activities 

After engaging in minting and transactions, Whale “0xbe6” subsequently withdrew approximately 935.1 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), valued at around $55.6 million, from Binance, with an average withdrawal price of about $59,451 per WBTC.

Approximately three hours past, another whale, identified as “bc1qr”, also removed approximately 1,500 BTC (equivalent to around $89.1 million USD) from Bitfinex at a price of $59,393 per coin.

These notable financial transactions, carried out by these influential ‘whales’, were recognized using data from SpotOnChain.

Stablecoins in focus – Tether USDT’s latest minting play and what it means

Bitcoin and USD liquidity rhymes

As a researcher, I’ve observed an intriguing pattern: Bitcoin (BTC) and U.S. Dollar (USD) liquidity tend to align in the market. However, unlike the usual correlation, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) inflows have boosted BTC prices this year, even when USD liquidity was relatively low. This suggests a decoupling of traditional market dynamics, which is worth further exploration.

On the contrary, now, USD liquidity is increasing on the charts. This could boost risky assets as the trend continues due to USDT’s minting.

Stablecoins in focus – Tether USDT’s latest minting play and what it means

The recent change in the balance between Bitcoin (BTC) and U.S. Dollar (USD) liquidity could significantly affect Tether (USDT), particularly given its recent increased issuance on centralized trading platforms.

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2024-08-15 08:10