The comments followed S&P's downgrade of USDt's ability to maintain its peg, which cited Tether's Bitcoin and gold reserves as a concern. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and market analysts pushed back against S&P Global’s downgraded rating of USDt’s (USDT) ability to maintain its US dollar peg, saying that the ratings agency did not account for all of Tether’s assets and revenues. The Tether Group’s total assets at the end of Q3 2025 totaled about $215 billion, while its total stablecoin liabilities were about $184.5 billion, according to Ardoino, who referenced Tether’s Q3 attestation report. He added: S&P made the same mistake of not considering the additional Group Equity, nor the roughly $500 million in monthly base profits generated by US Treasury yields alone,” Ardoino continued. Read more
A recent analysis shed light on another correlation between the world’s largest cryptocurrency and stablecoin by market capitalization. Blockchain analytics provider Glassnode reported a “strong negative correlation” between Bitcoin’s and USDt’s activity over the last two years. In a Wednesday X post, Glassnode shared a comparison between Bitcoin’s (BTC) price and net flows of USDt (USDT) to exchanges starting in December 2023. According to the analysis, net outflows of USDT from exchanges coincided with increases in the price of BTC. “During euphoric phases, USDT typically flows out at –$100M to –$200M/day as investors lock in profits,” said Glassnode. “At the $126K peak [in October], net outflows reached >$220M (30D-SMA); A clear profit-taking signal now easing as flows turn positive again.” Read more
S&P Global Ratings downgraded Tether’s USDt to its lowest stability rating, raising concerns over its dollar peg. Tether classified the report as “misleading.” S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Tether’s USDt to the lowest score on its stablecoin stability scale, questioning the token’s ability to maintain its dollar peg. The “weak” assessment was due to several factors, including Tether backing USDt (USDT) with “higher-risk” assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), gold, loans, and corporate bonds that are subject to higher volatility, according to S&P Global. The report read: Tether is headquartered in El Salvador and is regulated according to the National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD), which has looser requirements for reserve assets backing stablecoins, S&P said. Read more
The investment will help Parfin expand its onchain settlement tools and strengthen stablecoin infrastructure that is already driving institutional crypto use in LATAM. Tether has invested in Parfin, a London- and Rio de Janeiro-based digital asset platform, to push USDT deeper into Latin America’s institutional market and expand onchain settlement across the region. According to Tether, the investment underscores its push to position USDt (USDT) as an institutional settlement rail for high-value activities, including cross-border payments, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and credit markets tied to trade finance, commercial invoices and card receivables. Founded in 2019, Parfin builds infrastructure for institutions to custody, tokenize and transact digital assets. In October, the company secured official registration in Argentina as a virtual asset service provider and was recognized by the country’s financial regulator. It has been operating in Brazil since 2020. Read more
Tether is expanding its commodity-trade lending after deploying $1.5 billion in credit, marking a deeper shift from stablecoin issuer to global finance player. Stablecoin issuer Tether is expanding its presence in commodity lending, with billions of dollars already deployed in the sector, according to CEO Paolo Ardoino. In an interview with Bloomberg, Ardoino said Tether has extended about $1.5 billion in credit to commodities traders so far, providing financing in both cash and its USDt (USDT) stablecoin. The company is targeting traditional commodity trades, including agricultural products and oil, and plans to increase its exposure. “We are going to expand dramatically,” Ardoino said. Read more
The acquisition strengthens Rezolve’s partnership with Tether and expands its AI-driven digital payments network across Latin America and Africa. Smartpay, a fintech infrastructure company known for enabling stablecoin-based payments since 2019, has been acquired by Rezolve AI, a publicly listed commerce platform, in a deal that underscores the accelerating convergence between digital assets and AI-driven e-commerce. The acquisition was announced on Tuesday, though no financial terms were disclosed. Rezolve said the move will bolster its digital asset payment initiative in partnership with Tether, the issuer of the USDt (USDT) stablecoin. According to the announcement, Smartpay processed more than 19 million commercial transactions over the 12 months ending Sept. 30, representing over $1 billion in USDt value. Read more
USDT dominance dropped as a key altcoin market capitalization metric rose to $1.18 trillion, hinting that a cautiously brewing altseason could be brewing. Key takeaways: TOTAL3 market cap hit a record $1.18 trillion, signaling accelerating momentum within the altcoin cohort of the crypto market. USDT dominance dropped sharply, hinting at capital rotation into risk assets. Read more
Despite dominating stablecoin inflows, Tether’s USDt and Circle’s USDC have slowly lost market share, signaling the end of the “stablecoin duopoly.” Tether’s USDt and Circle’s USDC, the two largest stablecoins by market capitalization, have slowly lost market share in the past year, suggesting a major shift in the stablecoin landscape. Despite Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) steadily increasing their market caps, the stablecoins have lost more than 5% of their combined market share since Oct. 2, 2024, according to data from DefiLlama and CoinGecko. Nic Carter, industry analyst and Castle Island Ventures partner, took to X on Wednesday to address the decline of USDT and USDC dominance in a post titled “The stablecoin duopoly is ending.” Read more
Tether has scrapped plans to end USDT on Omni, Bitcoin Cash SLP, Kusama, EOS and Algorand, allowing it to continue in a limited capacity. Stablecoin issuer Tether has abandoned its plan to freeze USDT smart contracts on five chains, saying the tokens will remain transferable but no longer be issued or redeemed. The revised plan impacts users on Omni Layer, Bitcoin Cash SLP, Kusama, EOS, and Algorand, Tether said on Friday after receiving feedback from members of these ecosystems. “Following the feedback from the communities of these discontinued blockchains, Tether has revised this approach and will not freeze the smart contracts on these networks.” While users will still be able to transfer tokens on these blockchains, Tether is discontinuing direct issuance and redemption on these chains. “This means the tokens will no longer be officially supported as other Tether tokens.” The initial plan was to end support on Sept. 1. Read more
Blue Origin’s new crypto payment option joins a wave of blockchain ventures in aerospace, from NFTs minted in orbit to satellites running decentralized networks. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin has partnered with Shift4 Payments to let customers pay for trips to outer space in cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. According to a Monday press release, Blue Origin’s New Shepard tickets can be purchased in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), USDt (USDT), and USD Coin (USDC). Blue Origin — which has flown more than 75 passengers past the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary where Earth’s atmosphere ends and space begins — will accept direct payments from popular wallets like MetaMask and Coinbase. Read more
Tether’s USDt stablecoin has surpassed $160 billion market cap, confirming its place as the digital dollar, as Tron leads in blockchain supply. The market cap of Tether’s USDt, the world’s largest stablecoin, has surpassed $160 billion for the first time, a “new mind-blowing milestone,” according to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. In a Thursday post on X, Ardoino called the achievement a testament to USDt’s growing role as the digital dollar for “billions of people living in emerging markets and developing countries.” USDt crossed $150 billion in May. Ardoino has said that USDt (USDT) is used by more than 400 million people worldwide, expanding by 35 million wallets each quarter, especially in emerging markets where it serves as a reliable dollar substitute. Read more
Boosty Labs founder and CEO Viktor Ihnatiuk told Cointelegraph that Tether’s USDT will be RGB’s first real-world use case for stablecoin transfers on Bitcoin. Smart contract and asset issuance system RGB Protocol said it had launched on the Bitcoin mainnet, enabling tokenized assets like stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and custom tokens within the Bitcoin ecosystem. On Thursday, the protocol announced that tokenization tools allowing users to create, send and manage digital assets on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network were available. The protocol said it enables new tokenization functions on top of the network, while preserving its principles of decentralization, privacy and self-custody. Read more