Stablecoin issuer Tether has been actively minting new USDT tokens, adding 4 billion USDT to circulation in the past month. The latest issuance includes 1 billion USDT on the Tron blockchain on November 10 and 1 billion on Ethereum on November 9. Tether’s Chief Technology Officer and new CEO, Paolo Ardoino, explained that these transactions were authorized but not yet issued, intending to serve as inventory for future issuance requests and chain swaps.
Growing USDT supply raises questions
The recent surge in USDT minting has caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community. Observers have noted that the increased issuance of Tether’s stablecoin has historically coincided with significant market events. One crypto enthusiast on social media pointed out that the last time Tether minted such a substantial amount of USDT in a week, it coincided with the financial troubles of several banks, including Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, and Signature Bank, in March 2023.
During that period, some industry observers had raised concerns about potential exposure between Tether and Signature Bank. Tether swiftly denied any such allegations, stating that it had no exposure to Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, or Signature Bank.
Tether’s year of active minting and burning
Tether has been actively minting new stablecoins over the past year. In March 2023, Tether minted a staggering 9 billion USDT coins, following an additional 3 billion minted in the previous month. The stablecoin issuer also minted a significant amount of USDT between June 12 and July 12, totaling 3.75 billion USDT.
However, it’s not just minting; Tether has also been burning some of its coins. On August 22, Tether conducted a burn event, eliminating 1.2 billion USDT on the Tron blockchain. Earlier in the year, Tether had burned 3.1 billion Tron-based USDT in June and 2 billion Ethereum-based USDT in February.
Despite the ongoing debate surrounding its operations, Tether is actively working on expanding its ecosystem. Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, recently took to social media to announce that the company is gearing up to reveal five new projects in 2024. He hinted that some of these projects could have a substantial impact on displacing popular centralized services from the Web2 era.
