Tether and USDC Hit Milestones as Stablecoin Growth Continues
Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) – At least three Chinese companies have put their plans to list in the U.S. on hold, heralding a slowdown in what’s been a record start to a year for initial public offerings by mainland and Hong Kong firms.A bike-sharing platform, a podcaster and a cloud computing firm are among popular Chinese corporates holding off plans for a U.S. float, put off by recent market declines, souring investor sentiment toward fast-growth companies and lackluster debuts by peers like Waterdrop Inc.Hello Inc., Ximalaya Inc. and Qiniu Ltd. are postponing plans to take orders from investors, even though the three had filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission well over two weeks ago. In the U.S., companies can kick off their roadshows two weeks after filing publicly and most typically stick to that timetable.“The recent broad market selloff, combined with the correction of the IPO market since the beginning of last month when some new issuers tanked during their debuts, may make the market conditions less predictable for newcomers who are ‘physically’ ready – meaning they have cleared all regulatory hurdles for IPO – to get out of the door,” said Stephanie Tang, head of private equity for Greater China at law firm Hogan Lovells. “Some participants may choose to monitor the market for more stable conditions.”The delays throw a wrench in a listings flood by Chinese and Hong Kong companies in the U.S. that already reached $7.1 billion year-to-date – the fastest pace on record – after booming in 2020. Demand for IPOs surged as a wave of global stimulus money, ultra-low interest rates and rallying stock markets lured investors despite Sino-American tensions and the continued risk of mainland stocks being kicked off U.S. exchanges.READ: Stock Market’s Million Little Dramas Come Down to a Supply GlutThe S&P 500 Index capped its biggest two-week slide since February on Friday amid mounting investor concern over inflation and its impact on tech and other growth stocks. China’s CSI 300 Index remains in a technical correction, having fallen 10% from a February peak, while the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index, which tracks Chinese companies listed in the U.S., has slumped more than 30% from its high that month.Waiting OnHello, which offers a bike-sharing platform plus electric scooters for sale, has delayed its planned launch and is still undecided on its prospective valuation given rising investor caution about new shares, Bloomberg News has reported. It had been planning to raise between $500 million and $1 billion in the offering, although the final number will depend on valuations, according to one person with knowledge of the matter.Online podcast and radio services startup Ximalaya and enterprise cloud services provider Qiniu have put their listings on hold after beginning to gauge investor interest at the end of April, people with knowledge of the matter said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public.The sounding out of investors, or pre-marketing process, generally comes after filing for an IPO and before formal order-taking in a roadshow. Hello declined to comment while Qiniu didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Ximalaya’s IPO process is ongoing and the company will seek public listing at an appropriate time depending on market conditions, it said in response to questions.Weak DebutsThe poor performance of recent Chinese debutants has also sapped investor confidence. Insurance tech firm Waterdrop has plunged 38% from its offer price since going public earlier this month. Onion Global Ltd., a lifestyle brand platform, has fallen more than 8% below its IPO price.In fact, almost 59% or specifically 20 of the 34 Chinese firms that have listed in the U.S. this year are under water, data compiled by Bloomberg show, among them the two largest IPOs – e-cigarette maker RLX Technology Inc. and online Q&A site Zhihu Inc. Of the ones that listed in 2020, just 40% are trading below their IPO prices.The recent volatility in global markets has spooked U.S. companies as well. They have also been delaying floats or facing weak debuts.For some, the current challenges faced by Chinese listing hopefuls are likely to be transitory, with the hotly-anticipated IPO of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing Inc., which has filed confidentially for a multibillion-dollar offering, set to prove the real test of investor appetite for the China story.Apart from Hello and the two other firms that are said to delay IPO plans after kicking off their pre-marketing process, Chinese road freight transport platform ForU Worldwide Inc., which filed for a U.S. offering on May 13, and online education company Zhangmen Education Inc., which filed on May 19, are waiting in the wings though they have yet to pass the two-week hallmark.“There is a natural strong growth in China which international investors will still want to invest in over the longer term,” said Gary Dugan, chief executive officer at the Global CIO Office in Singapore.(Updates prices throughout, adds more details in the second-last paragraph.)More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Tether Audit and Binance Investigation - What’s the Future of Stablecoins?
Singapore, May 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – (via Blockchain Wire) Stablecoins, including Samecoin, have been an important part of the cryptocurrency industry for a long time. They are built as a way of storing digital currency with a stable value that is pegged to a fiat currency, in this instance: USD. But the actual stability and security of some of the biggest stablecoins have long been a murky area. Especially with the biggest stablecoin around, USDT (Tether).
Tether’s recent audit hasn’t stopped the critics
USDT recently hit the news as it underwent a major “audit”, partly to stay in compliance with a recent settlement agreement made between Tether and the New York Attorney General’s Office. But the veracity of this audit has been called into question by many crypto experts. Seen as an attempt to answer critics on what actually backs USDT, the audit still left many unanswered questions.
While Tether released a range of different figures, including that their reserves were made up of 65.39% “Commercial Paper”, no more detail was given—like the individual ratings of these backings or who they were issued by. Tether did not declare who the borrowers of loans were or what the collateral backing them was.
This still leaves a lot of uncertainty around USDT, and has not fanned flames on the rumors that Tether prints tokens in order to back up the market and keep the price of USDT at $1.
Investigation into Binance is another blow for their stablecoin
Major crypto exchange Binance has recently come under Federal investigation for potential money-laundering and tax issues. This casts more doubt on their own stablecoin, BUSD—one of the major and fast-growing stablecoin on the market.
This recent news has caused many to look for an alternative stablecoin option, and has undoubtedly increased the prospects for Samecoin’s new ecosystem. Samecoin has a family of stablecoins like SameUSD that offer a number of benefits in a congested stablecoin market.
Why SameUSD might be the answer
Completely audited (by CertiK) with fully-transparent results, and with a clear smart contract listing exactly what backs every part of the Samecoin ecosystem, SameUSD stays pegged to the value of the dollar by being tied to a basket of other stablecoins—making it resilient against fluctuations so it always stays at $1.
Transparency is at the core of Samecoin’s offering—unlike many other coins that have often been opaque. Samecoin’s stablecoins like SameUSD and SameEUR offer a completely stable environment for people to enjoy the benefits of digital currency with a spendable currency that they can understand, and a coin that they can be sure will retain its stable value. Samecoin’s ecosystem also comes with an easy-to-use payment application, SamePay.
If recent developments have shown us anything, it’s that more transparency is needed in the crypto world, especially when it comes to stablecoins. Samecoin’s SameUSD gives users an extra level of peace of mind and a currency they can trust at all times, unlike some other alternatives. That’s why many experts are starting to recommend Samecoin for your stablecoin needs.
To learn more, follow Samecoin on Twitter and Telegram.
Contact:
Karnika Yashwant
CEO
KEY Difference Media
Daily Cryptocurrency Exchange Trade Volume Taps All-Time High, Stablecoin Swaps Dominate – Markets and Prices Bitcoin News
Daily Cryptocurrency Exchange Trade Volume Taps All-Time High, Stablecoin Swaps Dominate
According to this week’s data, cryptocurrency trade volume touched an all-time high on May 20, reaching $1.76 trillion in reported 24-hour volume. Daily trade volume statistics for Monday have been high, as reported volume from crypto market aggregators shows over $300 billion in 24-hour volume. Meanwhile, stablecoins capture 50% of Monday’s global trade volume with tokens like tether, binance usd, and usd coin leading the pack.
Reported Crypto Exchange Volumes Worldwide Capture Lifetime Highs
Out of all the volume reported across the crypto economy’s lifetime, May 2021 saw the highest cryptocurrency trade volume in history. In fact, on May 20, the reported volume across hundreds of crypto exchanges shows an all-time high (ATH) of $1.76 trillion in daily volume. The reported volume for bitcoin (BTC) on Monday is around $71 billion in global swaps.
Statistics indicate that April saw a significant amount of trade volume as well, nearing a trillion when it tapped a 30-day high at $708 billion in daily swaps. The recently captured $1.76 trillion last Thursday, also took place when the entire crypto market capitalization dropped in fiat value from well over $2 trillion to $1.4 trillion.
Data from coincheckup.com’s global stats show that after May 19, 2021, nearly every day exceeds $1 trillion in worldwide swaps.
On Monday, stats from Coingecko show reported global trade volume is roughly $304.9 billion and an overall $1.6 trillion crypto-economy valuation. Coingecko’s data is roughly the same as coinmarketcap.com, which essentially shows what exchanges are reporting in real-time.
The $100 Billion Stablecoin Economy Commands More Than Half the Global Trade Volume
Coingecko’s fiat-pegged token index also shows the stablecoin market valuation increasing and at press time, it shows more than $202 billion in 24-hour global trade volume. If the reported numbers are precise, around 50% of the global trade volume on Monday is with stablecoins. It’s worth noting that reported trade volumes have been contested in the crypto economy for more than eight years.
While the U.S. dollar commands 17.9% of today’s BTC trades, cryptocompare data shows 55.28% of BTC’s market share volume is paired with tether (USDT). Tether and its stablecoin economy valued at $60 billion has settled much of the crypto trades on a daily basis during the last 30 days.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether Limited explained on Monday that the company has seen “enormous volatility in the crypto markets” in recent days. “During these extreme episodes, we’ve historically seen an uptick in stablecoin activity, made evident by Tether’s recent US$60 billion milestone as demand continues to grow. Events like these even support the ecosystem’s strength and help everyone refocus back to building rather than the distraction of token price gains.”
Tether is not the only stablecoin showcasing its ability during the recent market downturn as USDC and BUSD have grown to be sizable competitors. USDC now has a market valuation of around $20 billion on Monday and BUSD has around $8.6 billion.
While USDC does have a larger market cap, BUSD has higher trade volumes today. At the time of writing, Binance’s stablecoin BUSD has around $9.9 billion in 24-hour trade volume and USDC has $6 billion. Other notable players in both market cap and stablecoin daily trade volumes on Monday include tokens like DAI, UST, PAX, and TUSD.
What do you think about the trillion-dollar reported trade volumes recorded during the end of May? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Coinecko, coincheckup.com,
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