The stablecoin Tether has achieved a significant milestone, surpassing a market capitalization of $100 billion, marking a 9% year-to-date growth and widening the gap between itself and its closest competitor, USD Coin.

On March 4, Tether briefly reached the $100 billion mark, with its market capitalization fluctuating based on price and circulating supply data from CoinGecko.

It currently holds a market cap lead of over $71 billion compared to USDC, issued by Circle, which has also experienced growth this year.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, emphasized the milestone's significance, highlighting Tether's substantial role in shaping digital finance.

However, Tether has yet to achieve the $100 billion milestone on other platforms like CoinMarketCap.

Ardoino attributes Tether's success to the trust it has earned from users over time, underscored by the assurance of fully backed reserves for every Tether token and seamless redemption access for customers.

Tether's market cap now rivals that of companies like BP and surpasses e-commerce giant Shopify.

As a cryptocurrency pegged to the USD, Tether operates on multiple blockchains, positioning itself as a prominent stable asset for crypto traders.

Recent months have seen a resurgence in the crypto market, with Bitcoin's price surging by 50% and reaching two-year highs, pushing the market cap above $2 trillion.

Tether's parent company claims to back each USDT token with independently audited reserves, mainly comprised of yield-bearing U.S. Treasury Bills.

Despite concerns about asset quality, Tether has pledged efforts to reduce exposure to higher-risk assets, including scaling back lending from reserves.

While Tether has faced scrutiny regarding its holdings and usage, particularly on the Tron blockchain, the company has defended itself by highlighting its collaboration with law enforcement and the traceability of its tokens, countering claims made in a United Nations report.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoin-tether-usdt-100-billion-market-cap

https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/tether

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/tether/

https://tether.to/en/transparency/#usdt

https://tether.to/en/transparency/#reports