觀點詳情

Tether (USDT) was originally launched on October 6th, 2014 as Realcoin by Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins, and Craig Sellars (a member of the Omni Foundation). This allowed them to build Tether on the Omni Protocol which enabled users to create and trade smart-contract-based properties and currencies on Bitcoin ’s blockchain. On the 20th of November 2014, Tether CEO Reeve Collins announced that the name of their token, Realcoin, would be changed to Tether (USDT). Tether’s contentious history begins with its launch on the market. In January of 2015, Bitfinex allowed Tether (USDT) to be traded on their exchange platform for the first time. Tether volume began to increase rapidly on the blockchain network with USD transactions moving through Taiwanese banks, who would then pass the transactions on to Wells Fargo. This continued until 2017. On April 18, 2017, Tether’s international transfers were blocked by US Banks. A lack of transparency leading up to and during these events followed by leaks such as the Paradise Papers amid accusations of market manipulation made many users speculate if the Tether currency reserves actually existed or if the entire stablecoin would collapse. This was exacerbated in 2017 when withdrawals were temporarily suspended. These news events caused severe volatility for USDT holders. Starting from January 2017, the amount of outstanding Tether (USDT) grew from $10 million to almost $2.8 billion in September of 2018. This was followed by a lawsuit in April of 2019 from New York Attorney General Letitia James who accused Bitfinex and Tether of misappropriating reserves funds to cover an 850$ million dollar deficit. Bitfinex and Tether agreed to pay a penalty of $18.5 million in 2021. Tether continues to remain the center of speculation in cryptocurrency markets and blockchain networks with many users doubting their liquidity and stability.