An investor analyzing the price of tether, the token coin $USDT on a crypto exchange screen. Source: maurice norbert - stock.adobe.com

Key Takeaways:

Tether executed a major cross-chain swap, moving over 2 billion USDt from multiple blockchains to Ethereum, primarily at the request of a major exchange consolidating holdings.
The transaction included USDt from Tron, Avalanche, Near Protocol, and EOS, aiming to enhance liquidity on Ethereum, with no effect on USDt’s total supply.
Recent scrutiny includes allegations from The Wall Street Journal about U.S. government investigations into Tether, which spurred a brief crypto market dip.

Tether, the issuer of the USDt stablecoin, recently completed a significant cross-chain swap, moving over 2 billion USDt from various blockchain networks, including Tron, Avalanche, Near Protocol, and EOS, to the Ethereum network.

This transfer was initiated on behalf of an undisclosed large exchange seeking to consolidate its USDt holdings on Ethereum.

In few hours Tether will coordinate with a 3rd party prominent exchange to perform a chain swap, converting part of their $USDt cold wallets from different blockchains to $USDt on ETH.
The #tether $USDt total supply will not change during this process.

Breakdown (might be… pic.twitter.com/z17oGcrl1x
— Tether (@Tether_to) November 6, 2024

Despite the swap, Tether confirmed that USDt’s overall supply remains unaffected.

The Tron network currently hosts most USDt transactions due to its lower fees and faster speeds, but Ethereum remains a key platform for major exchanges.

This large transfer comes amid reports from The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. government is investigating Tether for potential money laundering and sanctions violations, triggering brief market uncertainty.

In response, Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino highlighted the company’s financial reserves, which include $100 billion in U.S. Treasury bills, 82,000 Bitcoin, and 48 tons of gold.

USDt’s market cap recently hit $120 billion, underscoring its significance in the crypto market.

Additionally, Chainalysis data shows that stablecoins like USDt are increasingly used as stores of value in countries with depreciating currencies rather than just for speculative trading.