Highlights
- According to a recent Protos study, Alameda Research and Cumberland control the majority of the Tether traffic
From Illegal Crypto To A Glorified Coin
According to a new report, Tether (USDT) has evolved from an illegal cryptocurrency to the industry’s cornerstone during the last seven years. USDT acts as a bridge between traditional currencies such as the US dollar and decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin. An independent cryptocurrency website, Protos looked at the most popular stable coin and the liquidity providers that supply it to cryptocurrency platforms.
The Study Reveals The Following
According to the study referenced, USDT is mainly acquired by two market makers. Between 2014 and October 2021, Alameda Research and Cumberland are expected to receive $60.3 billion in USDT, accounting for more than 55% of outward traffic. According to Protos’ calculations, the closest competition earned perhaps a few hundred million USDT.
A CEO Is Reported To Own More Than A Third Of All Tether
Sam Bankman Fried, 29, is the founder and CEO of Alameda Research. He is credited for acquiring $36.7 billion, or more than a third of all Tether created. In addition, Cumberland Global, the world’s largest provider of crypto liquidity, has received a total of $23.7 billion. Cumberland was acknowledged as one of the world’s leading financial traders at its founding in 1992.
According to Protos, Alameda Research received $31.7 billion (86 percent) of USDT from Tether’s Treasury in the past 12 months. This represents around 37% of overall USDT outflows. Tether’s cryptocurrency and derivatives market, FTX, got almost $30.1 billion (87 percent) of the USDT issued by Alameda. Alameda, on the other hand, maintains wallets on a variety of Bitcoin exchanges. We received $2 billion (6%) from Binance, $1 billion (5%) from Huobi, and $115 million (5%) from OKEx in exchange for our investment. Seven hundred and five million dollars were transmitted to non-exchange addresses.
Cumberland Owns Over $23 Billion In Tether
On the other side, Cumberland had $23.7 billion in USDT. Tether’s Treasury has received $17.6 billion USDT years to date (74 percent). This metric accounts for 22% of overall USDT outflows. Protos emphasizes Cumberland’s extensive experience on Binance as a liquidity provider and market maker. Tether has transferred $18.7 billion in USDT to Binance (79 percent) as of this writing, with the remainder traveling to other exchanges.
Other Companies Are Also Not Far Behind
Poloniex accounted for $131.5 million (less than 1%) of the liquidity provider’s total income, Bitfinex accounted for $9 million, and Huobi and OKEx accounted for $30 million. Tether remains the world’s most valued stable coin. However, regulators have begun to question the corporation’s token. On Oct. 15, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission penalized Tether and Bitfinex $41 million and $1.5 million, respectively, for breaches of the Commodity Exchange Act and an earlier CFTC order.
