Tether (USDT) is taking over the crypto markets, spreading its effect to altcoins. Now that a lot of USDT has settled on several large exchanges, it is possible that the extra liquidity is moving into other altcoins heating up.
As Bitcoin’s prices stall below $10,000, deals in Bitcoin continue to slide every day, now taking up only 29% of the entire market. At the same time, the trading share of altcoins grows. More than 23% of Ethereum (ETH) trading happens against USDT, through OKEx, Binance, and Bitfinex.
Tether: Charting New Course for Altcoins?
Tether trading has vaulted over the 16% mark, and according to other statistics, takes up more than 23% of all deals. At the same time, Japanese enthusiasm, which propped up BTC prises, is flagging, and the yen takes up only 44% of all BTC deals. With the high dynamics of the crypto market, the increased influence of Tethers is a phenomenon moving fast. While fiat trading was king in the last rally, it seems now USDT tokens will dictate price movements on some of the most active exchanges.
More than 24% of EOS trading is also dependent on USDT tokens. Some believe the current rise in EOS is an outright market manipulation and a concerted move due to direct links to the Tether project:
https://twitter.com/BryceWeiner/status/993410118577344512
Litecoin (LTC), which spiked recently, has 33% of its volumes on the USDT markets. For Bitcoin Cash (BCH), USDT trading takes up more than 24% of the markets. It could be said that some of the strongest performers in the past week have seen a boost because of the large share of USDT. Other tokens that lag, such as NEM (XEM) and Cardano (ADA) still have a share of USDT trading below 10%.
!USDT!
Binance remains one of the biggest Tether wallets on the rich list, meaning that USDT-paired assets may get a boost. Tethers themselves barely see trading against fiat. More than 95% of USDT trading against the US dollar is concentrated on Kraken, but the volumes are a ridiculously low $1 million.
Compared to the turnover of USDT on the markets, which at one point broke above the equivalent of $6 billion, the possibility of cashing out from Tethers is near negligible.
Despite the lack of new minting of Tether tokens, the asset seems to be able to extend great influence over the markets, this time by flowing out of Bitcoin and by propping up hot altcoins. This may mean no asset is safe from the effect of exaggerated liquidity, which increases dollar prices, but actually offers no easy way to cash out into fiat.
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