Why USDT Is Plunging While Other Stablecoins Are Not

Stablecoin adoption has grown immensely, observed especially following the collapse of Terra.

USDC and USDT have seen sizeable growth, but USDT has a lot of keeping up to do with its value plunging as of press time.

  • USDT trades at $0.09999 as of this writing
  • Stablecoin waning in terms of social mentions and engagements
  • Tether exhibits strength in terms of market cap at $66 billion

The transfer volume of stablecoins is seeing impressive growth, including USDC, but USDT needs to catch up and gain more traction.

Overall, stablecoins are enjoying a spike in trading volume, having reached roughly $7.5 trillion which is a huge price pump.

According to CoinMarketCap, USDT (Tether) is trading at $0.09999 or 0.00% as of this writing.

USDC Leads In Transaction Volume

As of press time, USDC has been acing its rival in terms of value and transaction volume. Tether’s transaction volume has significantly slipped by 200 billion from 2021 to 2022.

USDT falters in the social media department or visibility, which could account for its steady decline. Its social engagements have dropped tremendously by as much as 24.2%, and social mentions have dipped by 13.7% since November.

In comparison, other stablecoins have been actively engaged on social media, padding their popularity.

USDT has had prevailing negative sentiment since early December, but it has improved, and the weighted sentiment is now looking a little positive. 

The value of transactions is another region in which the stablecoin has been supplanted. Dune Analytics found that USDC has outperformed its competitor in this area as well.

As of this writing, the total value of all USDT transactions was $710 million, whereas all USDC transactions were worth $4.4 billion.

Despite some good news regarding positive sentiment and market cap, USDT is faltering in terms of network growth, especially in the Optimism, Polygon, and Ethereum networks which signals a decrease in the transfer of USDT happening in the networks.

Japan’s FSA Reconsiders Trading with Stablecoins in 2023

In other news, the 31 crypto exchanges under Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) have implemented a ban on trading with stablecoins that include USDC and USDT on June 2022, but they seem to want to reconsider for 2023.

According to recent news reported on December 26, the FSA of Japan will be removing the ban imposed on the distribution and trading of stablecoins come 2023.

In line with this announcement, Japan will now allow the local crypto networks to perform activities like trading and distribution of stablecoins to ensure speedy and affordable international remittances.

But, stablecoin distribution in the country will adopt regulations connected to Anti-Money Laundering activities.

Tether (USDT) Q1 Trading Volume Plunges To $5.3 Trillion In Quarterly Low

With the chaotic phase that the crypto market is going through, Tether (USDT) trading volume in Q1 of 2022 plunged lower compared to the same quarter of last year. The total Tether transaction for the first quarter of 2022 is 26,454.

Even though the bearish trend has seen many investors turning to stablecoins, the interest of investors for USDT remains a bit controlled.

Tether is dubbed to be a stable crypto because unlike Bitcoin, Tether is pegged with the US dollar which means it retains a consistent value over time. It’s a go-to or preferred altcoin especially for investors who have a low risk appetite.

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What Is Tether?

Tether is a stablecoin which is far more consistent or stable compared to other cryptocurrencies like the two popular BTC and ETH because it’s backed by fiat money. This means Tether has actual US dollars that act as collateral. It basically has the same value as the USD.

Stablecoins act as a middle ground and provide liquidity in an extremely risky and volatile environment allowing crypto to be regarded as a store of value and less than a risky undertaking.

USDT total market cap at $82.28 billion on the weekend chart | Source: TradingView.com

The most popular stablecoins are Tether, USD Coin, and Gemini Dollar which all share the same characteristics backed by US dollars. On the other hand, other stablecoins are backed by silver, gold, and other fiat currencies like yen and euro.

USDT Trading Volume Plummets

Tether’s trading volume went down in the first quarter at $5.3 trillion. Compared to the trading volume of January to March 2021 of 2021, there was a marked reduction of trading volume by as much as 46% or roughly around $9.9 trillion.

Overall, the crypto trading volume has plummeted which also seems to have triggered the dip in Tether trading volume in Q1.

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Price Action Analysis

To analyze the impact of Tether transactions going down on Tether trading volume, it is important to compare the USDT trading volume in the quarter 1 of 2021 to 2022.

January 2021 USDT trading volume is at $3.4 trillion which is higher compared to this year’s Q1 trading volume that registered at $1.8 trillion.

Meanwhile, March 2021 USDT trading volume is at $2.7 trillion which is a bit higher compared to 2022 trading volume in the same month at 1.9 trillion.

January 1, 2022 trading price for USDT is at $1 and it closed quarter 1 at $1. Tether is definitely as stable as it can get; literally.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com