Notes 3/31: Tether Attestation Report, Stablecoins as Free Banking, and The Banality of Another DeFi Hack

Tether, the algorithmic stablecoin that straddles all of crypto, released an attestation report for its second quarter this morning. As usual, it is a sham and a mishmash of meaningless statistics and assertions. The report does not provide much clarity about its finances though it does bring to light some of the underlying risks. According… Read More Notes 3/31: Tether Attestation Report, Stablecoins as Free Banking, and The Banality of Another DeFi Hack

Notes 7/28: Bitcoin Price, Tether and Bitcoin, and Palau Stablecoin

Bitcoin price continues to remain equable in its chosen range of between $29,000 to $30,000. Right now, the cryptocurrency is changing hands for $29,243.94, unchanged from its price a day ago. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization shrugged off positive data about an increase in US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – news that should… Read More Notes 7/28: Bitcoin Price, Tether and Bitcoin, and Palau Stablecoin

Notes 7/25: Stablecoin Ratings, Bitcoin Price

Here’s a zinger of a news item from crypto. Bluechip Stablecoin Ratings Agency has come out with ratings for stablecoins operating in the crypto ecosystem. Binance’s native stablecoin BUSD and Gemini USD have received an A rating while algorithmic stablecoin Tether gets a D. Apparently, the factors considered while deciding the rating are governance, ability… Read More Notes 7/25: Stablecoin Ratings, Bitcoin Price

Notes 6/23: Tether Loses Peg At Binance.US As Bitcoin Price Blitzes Past $31,000, Crypto Derivatives Turn Bullish (Why?!), and TUSD’s News Cycle

Algorithmic stablecoin Tether has lost its peg at Binance.US as bitcoin price rallied past $31,000 this morning. According to data from crypto prices aggregation site CoinGecko, bitcoin price is trading at $31,152.69, up 3.5% from a day earlier, right now and Tether’s peg is intact at $1. There is a different story playing out at… Read More Notes 6/23: Tether Loses Peg At Binance.US As Bitcoin Price Blitzes Past $31,000, Crypto Derivatives Turn Bullish (Why?!), and TUSD’s News Cycle

Notes 6/21: Bitcoin Price Pops Past $30,000, Stablecoin Regulation

Bitcoin price continues its logic-defying ascent amid a flurry of bitcoin ETF filings. It swept past the $30,000 mark this afternoon, touching a high of $30,585 before retreating slightly. As of this writing, it is changing hands at $30,206.95, up by a staggering 8% from yesterday and 16% from last week. During its surge, the… Read More Notes 6/21: Bitcoin Price Pops Past $30,000, Stablecoin Regulation

Tether Reserves Reports Engineer Brief Loss of Peg for Its Stablecoin

Well, that turned out to be an anticlimax. A bunch of publications – CoinDesk, Bloomberg, and The Block – yesterday published a makeup of controversial stablecoin Tether’s reserves in May 2021, after it had paid a penalty and settled with the New York Attorney General (NYAG) for commingling its reserve funds with those for sister… Read More Tether Reserves Reports Engineer Brief Loss of Peg for Its Stablecoin

Notes 6/16: Tether Documents, Ether As An “Other” Token, and Bitcoin ETFs Again

It is time to take out the popcorn. The New York Attorney General’s office has handed documents related to its 2021 settlement with stablecoin issuer, Tether, to CoinDesk. The publication is said to be “reviewing” the documentation. Tether has never submitted its finances to a comprehensive audit; instead, it published attestations – snapshots of its… Read More Notes 6/16: Tether Documents, Ether As An “Other” Token, and Bitcoin ETFs Again

Notes 6/15: Tether Loses Peg, Bitcoin and Tether Dominance

Algorithmic stablecoin Tether lost its peg briefly amid trader selloffs of USDT at Curve Finance, a liquidity pool that operates in decentralized finance (DeFi) markets, this morning. According to Coinmarketcap, a site owned by Binance – an exchange where Tether records its biggest volumes, the stablecoin was trading as low as $0.9968. While its peg… Read More Notes 6/15: Tether Loses Peg, Bitcoin and Tether Dominance

Notes 6/10: Tether’s Volcano Investment, Bitcoin Mining Consolidation

In a week when the SEC attempted to carbonize bitcoin liquidity further with its lawsuits against two prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, algorithmic stablecoin Tether is making plans to ensure future supply of the crypto necessary to maintain its peg. Earlier this week, the company was reported to have put money into a 241-MW renewable energy park… Read More Notes 6/10: Tether’s Volcano Investment, Bitcoin Mining Consolidation

Notes 3/17: Bitcoin in Tether’s Reserves

Tether is Bitcoin’s new savior. The crypto world’s biggest stablecoin plans to increase bitcoin holdings in its reserves by investing 15% of its future profits into bitcoin. According to its latest attestation report, Tether had $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin on its books. The firm said it will use “realized profits”, or profits accruing to… Read More Notes 3/17: Bitcoin in Tether’s Reserves

Tether Releases Attestation Report

Controversial stablecoin Tether released its latest reserves report for the first quarter yesterday. As usual, there are many red flags. The stablecoin has released an attestation and not an audit, meaning the accounting firm responsible for verifying Tether’s reserves only checked the state of its finances at a particular moment in time. What’s more, their… Read More Tether Releases Attestation Report

Notes 4/29: Circle Cross Chain Transfer Protocol

Stablecoin issuer Circle made news at crypto shindig Consensus last week by announcing a Cross Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) to ensure “seamless liquidity” of their token USDC. In simple words, this means that the CCTP will enable USDC holders to move the token between different blockchains. According to the company, the CCTP is currently functional… Read More Notes 4/29: Circle Cross Chain Transfer Protocol