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Tether Speaks up About Rumous of It’s Paper Portfolio

The stablecoin provider released a statement denying rumors that the USDT coin was backed largely by Chinese and Asian commercial papers....
Photo by Shubham Dhage

The stablecoin provider released a statement denying rumors that the USDT coin was backed largely by Chinese and Asian commercial papers. Tether discredited “false stories” about the USDT reserves in its stablecoin, in a statement published Wednesday morning.

In a blog post, it stated that the idea that its “commercial paper portfolio” is 85% backed Chinese or Asian unsecured, short term debt issued by companies and traded at 30% discount is “completely false”. It speculated that the assertions were being spread online in an “organised” way to scare investors away from Tether and make a profit from its failure.

Tether’s USDT, which is the world’s largest stablecoin, has fallen to Circle’s rival stablecoin USDC.

Tether’s total market value is 7%, making it the third most-popular asset on Binance and Coinbase . According to exchange websites, Tether is the third most valuable crypto market asset.

Investors may be worried about security in cryptocurrency investments following a wider market crash. This announcement is intended to calm investors who are concerned by the potential for a crypto lending platform Celsius suspending withdrawals on Sunday.

Tether said that it has zero exposure to Celsius at the moment, with the exception of a small investment made from Tether equity in company.” Tether noted that Celsius overcollateralized its borrowing activity and suffered “no losses” when liquidating the firm’s position.

Tether also claimed that other rumors are being spread and suggested it has “lending exposure” to Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge-fund currently facing unanticipated liquidations.

A stablecoin, a type cryptocurrency, is tied to an asset’s price (usually a fiat currency like the U.S. Dollar). It claims to be backed with reserves that allow holders to redeem their stablecoins to purchase the asset.

Tether stated that its most recent assurance opinion was completed by MHA Cayman (Cayman Islands-based accounting company). It also noted that 47%, or $39 billion, of USDT’s backing are made up of U.S. Treasury bills.

It claims that less than 25% of Tether’s backing is composed of commercial paper. This is unsecured debt that companies agree not to pay and a premium at a specific date. According to the latest assurance opinion, $20 billion of Tether’s assets is made up commercial paper issued by corporations and certificates of deposits issued by financial institutions. Paolo Ardoino, the Tether CTO, claimed that the stablecoin provider had half the amount USDT of commercial paper backing it. This claim he repeated today on Twitter.

The company didn’t immediately reply to emails from Decrypt when asked how much of Tether’s commercial paper portfolio was backed by debt from Chinese and Asian companies.

Tether stated that as its commercial paper matures, it will roll funds into U.S. Treasuries. Tether claimed its current portfolio of commercial papers has been reduced by $11 billion since March 31 to $8.4 billion at the end of June.

Other assets are also backing Tether, such as cash, corporate bonds and money market funds. Tether’s assets exceeded its liabilities by more than $162 million according to the assurance statement. More than 99% of these assets relate to tokens sold.

The assurance statement, which is located under the section “Management’s key accounting policies,” clarifies that the “valuation” of Tether’s assets was based on “normal trading conditions and does NOT reflect unexpected or extraordinary market conditions.” It also states that management did not identify any provision for credit losses at the time it was filed on March 31.

Elena Argyros

Elena Argyros

Elena is cryptocurrency writer / journalist based in Europe. She has extensive knowledge in the crypto space and is a solidity programmer by trade. Elena has built an extensive resume working with some of the most ground breaking blockchain firms. Being in Europe, Elena has amassed a large network of professionals in the space and states "The technology behind blockchain is going to impact everyone on earth in a good way, once you get to understand it".
Elena Argyros

Elena Argyros

Elena is cryptocurrency writer / journalist based in Europe. She has extensive knowledge in the crypto space and is a solidity programmer by trade. Elena has built an extensive resume working with some of the most ground breaking blockchain firms. Being in Europe, Elena has amassed a large network of professionals in the space and states "The technology behind blockchain is going to impact everyone on earth in a good way, once you get to understand it".

© 2022 The Daily Encrypt. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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