Mike Smith
13 hours ago
.png)
USDt, the international market's leading stablecoin, crossed the landmark $160 billion mark on July 18, recording the fastest increase in supply since the beginning of the year. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino called the record proof that the dollar token has become an everyday means of payment for millions of users in countries with limited access to traditional banking services.
The driver of the acceleration was a fresh batch of USDT 3 billion worth of minting, conducted in a single day without the slightest deviation from the dollar peg. Second-quarter disclosures show that the issuer's reserve portfolio already includes $127bn of US Treasuries, $8bn of physical gold and highly liquid repo instruments. This combination generated $4.3 billion in net income and allowed the issuer to allocate a portion of the funds to further strengthen the token's collateral.
Tether is developing physical assets in parallel: the company has agreed to buy a 70 percent stake in an agribusiness holding in South America for $600 million, with plans to integrate USDT into payments for grain, sugar and bioethanol. The investment creates a bridge between digital payment instruments and the multi-trillion dollar commodity trading segment. At the same time, the issuer has invested in a blockchain analytics service specializing in financial fraud detection, which demonstrates a focus on proactive multi-jurisdictional regulatory compliance.
The regulatory front is really becoming key. The U.S. House of Representatives is considering a GENIUS bill that would require an independent audit of all stablecoin reserves at least quarterly and impose penalties for deviations from parity. If the document comes into force, Tether will have to disclose the portfolio structure more frequently and adjust the composition of assets more quickly when government bond yields change.
The largest financial corporations are already preparing for the era of digital dollars: the heads of several banks said that they consider stablecoins as a way of instant cross-border payments and treasury optimization. For Tether, this is a chance to move out of the crypto niche into the mainstream of global payments, but the growing interest of the traditional sector is increasing competition among digital currency issuers.
Despite the decline in yields on three-month treasuries to 3.2% per annum following the Fed's soft turnaround, Tether has continued to increase the share of government debt in reserves, withdrawing funds from riskier instruments. At the end of six months, USDT turnover in OTC cross-border settlements grew by 41%, and the token's share in total stablecoin capitalization reached 68%.
The upcoming decisions of lawmakers will become a litmus test for the entire industry: the further evolution of the digital dollar and its ability to remain a reliable base for global commerce depends on how Tether will combine strict reporting with the usual cryptocurrency issuance speed.
