Two firms account report for the majority of Tether received

Two firms account report for the majority of Tether received

According to a new report, Tether (USDT) has transformed from its prior status as a renegade crypto token to becoming the crypto industry’s primary crutch in the last seven years.

Essentially, USDT is considered a bridge between traditional currencies like the US dollar and other decentralized digital currencies operating on open blockchain networks.

Cryptocurrency outlet Protos has, at the latest, provided an in-depth insight into the most common stablecoins, including the liquidity providers who supply them to cryptocurrency platforms.

According to the report’s findings, the USDT issued is primarily acquired by only two market makers. Between 2014 and October 2021, Alameda Research and Cumberland had received a projected worth of $60.3 billion in USDT, accounting for almost 55 per cent of all outbound volume ever. 

As per Protos, the closest competitor had minted a few hundred million USDT.

Alameda Research, currently led by 29-year-old crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, has acquired $36.7 billion, which is almost a third of all Tether produced. 

Cumberland Global, currently the globe’s largest crypto liquidity provider, has come second with $23.7 billion received. Cumberland is a DRW subsidiary, established in 1992. It is hailed as one of the first-ever major financial traders.

The research by Protos states that Tether Treasury had transferred $36.7 billion in USDT to Alameda Research, with $31.7 billion (roughly 86 per cent) of what it had received in the past twelve months. This number equals approximately to 37 per cent of all outbound USDT volume.

The report further states that Tether had sent over $30.1 billion (87 per cent) of Alameda’s USDT to its cryptocurrency and derivatives exchange FTX. However, Alameda is currently available on a list of other crypto exchanges. 

The company has received $2.1 billion (6 per cent) on Binance, $1.7 billion (5 per cent) on Huobi, and $115 million on OKEx. The remaining $705 million had been transferred to non-exchange addresses.

Cumberland had received $23.7 billion in USDT. In the previous year alone, $17.6 billion in USDT (74 per cent) was received from Tether Treasuries. This figure makes up 22 per cent of all outbound USDT volume ever recorded.

Protos has also noted that Cumberland’s importance as a liquidity source and market maker for Binance, have been on the exchange since the first quarter of 2019. Tether has issued Cumberland $18.7 billion (79 per cent) in USDT to Binance, with the rest going transferred to other exchange platforms.

The liquidity provider had received $131.5 million (less than 1 per cent) on Poloniex, $9 million on Bitfinex and another $30 million on both Huobi and OKEx.

At present, Tether remains globally the largest stablecoin by market capitalization. However, the company’s token has been under scrutiny by legal regulators in recent months.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has reportedly levied fines totalling $41 million and $1.5 million against sister crypto firms Tether and Bitfinex for recorded breaches of the Commodity Exchange Act and a prior CFTC order, respectively, on October 15.