Tether (USDT) is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization. Crypto traders use stablecoins like Tether to make transfers between different cryptocurrencies or to move their investments into or out of fiat currencies. The value of USDT is pegged to the U.S. dollar.
Millions worth of tether (USDT) stablecoins appeared to be selling off on popular Uniswap and Curve pools Thursday morning, sparking early signs of concern among traders.
USDT, which usually trades around $1, lost its peg to the U.S. currency and dropped as low as $0.9968, according to CoinMarketCap data. The token was recently trading at $0.998.
USDT balances on Curve’s popular 3pool, a stablecoin swapping pool made up of USDT, USDC, and DAI, rose to over 72% early on Thursday – suggesting traders had exchanged tens of millions of USDT in favor of stablecoins USD coin (USDC) and dai (DAI).
Tether, the most dominant stablecoin with over 76% of the stablecoin market share, appears to be in hot water right now! However, there is no clear indication of a ‘depeg’ but the popular token is facing massive selling pressure. Moreover, USDT is also being swapped for USDC.
As per the platform, CZSamSun, a USDT whale, is busy shorting the token as the latest transactions add fuel to the fire. The whale initially deposited 21.68 million USDC and borrowed 12 million USDT, which he repaid in no time. However, one cannot draw any definite conclusions right now, but the selling and swapping levels seem to be abnormal and concerning too.
Tether has maintained the USDT peg each time it tumbles down by either burning USDT or injecting more. Probably, it could be another Tether FUD, but the ‘no depeg’ situation may also not be eliminated.