USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has released an accountant-verified report of its treasury reserve holdings backing more than $44.5 billion worth of tokens currently in circulation. Circle’s December 2022 reserve report, which was reviewed by GrantThornton accountancy group, breaks down the current make-up of the stablecoin issuer’s reserve vault. According to Circle, 44,553,543,212 USDC is currently backed by $44,693,963,701 U.S. dollars held in custody accounts. It is worth noting that a significant portion of the latter amount is invested in a variety of U.S. Treasury bonds. As per Circle’s VP of accounting Timothy Singh, the fair value of assets in …

Stablecoins in the cryptocurrency market help provide USD pegged tokens within the volatile industry. In bull markets, the market capitalization of stablecoins tends to decrease as investors flock to more volatile assets and in bear markets, investors seek shelter in low volatility stablecoins thus increasing their market caps. On Jan. 26, the total market capitalization for stablecoins like Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD) and Dai (DAI) is over $131 billion. Stablecoins are so crucial to the future of crypto, that Moody’s, a well-respected analytics agency, is planning to develop a scoring system. The scoring system may help …

Tether aims to increase visibility and mitigate controls of cryptocurrency payments used in child abuse content marketplaces through a collaboration with INHOPE. The stablecoin operator will work with INHOPE, a global network combating online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), to share information, collaborate with stakeholders and enforce actions on bad actors from the cryptocurrency ecosystem. According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the collaboration intends to develop a standard practice for the cryptocurrency industry to identify and report these underground marketplaces. Tether’s CTO Paolo Ardoino said the company was working alongside law enforcement, financial intelligence units, lawmakers and standard-setting bodies …

The notorious failure of the Terra USD (UST) affected the crypto market in general, but it’s the algorithmic stablecoins alike that took the harshest punch. Since its peak in April 2022, the market share of algorithmic stablecoins shrank almost tenfold. According to a fresh report from CryptoCompare, the current market share of algorithmic stablecoins stands at 1.71%, while its all-time high record in April reached 12.4% of the whole crypto market. Prior to its crash, Terra USD accounted for 79.8% of all the algorithmic stablecoin’s market share. The stablecoin market in general also doesn’t feel too well with January becoming …

2022 was supposed to be the year crypto went mainstream, with a significant chunk of traditional venture capital firms betting heavily on the ecosystem in 2021. However, with one disaster after another, 2022 turned out to be a catastrophic year for the nascent crypto ecosystem. Some of the biggest names touted as pivotal to taking the crypto ecosystem forward turned out to be the orchestrators of its worst year in recent memory. That said, quite a few protagonists rose to the occasion. These winners proved that crypto is not just about a few select individuals and companies but a vibrant …

Is USD Coin safe? Despite the fact that the USD Coin is subject to regulatory oversight, investors must weigh the pros and cons of investing in stablecoins before committing any funds. Comparing USDC with USDT, USDC is subject to regulations as it is audited from time to time, and Circle is fully transparent about its operations. However, investing in the cryptocurrency market, even in stablecoins, has its own cons. For instance, the price of the USD Coin will never appreciate as it is pegged to the U.S. dollar. This disadvantage is offset by the provision that USDC can be lent …

Japanese regulators are reconsidering some major cryptocurrency restrictions related to the use of stablecoins like Tether (USDT) or USD Coin (USDC). The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan will lift the ban on the domestic distribution of foreign-issued stablecoins in 2023, local news agency Nikkei reported on Dec. 26. The new stablecoin regulations in Japan will allow local exchanges to handle stablecoin trading under condition of asset preservation by deposits and an upper limit of remittance. “If payment using stablecoins spreads, international remittances may become faster and cheaper,” the report notes. Allowing stablecoin distribution in Japan will also require more …

After the collapse of Terraform Labs’ cryptocurrency, Terra (LUNA), and its stablecoin, Terra (UST), the notion of “algorithmic stabilization” has fallen to a low point in popularity, both in the cryptocurrency world and among mainstream observers. This emotional response, however, is strongly at odds with reality. In fact, algorithmic stabilization of digital assets is a highly valuable and important class of mechanism whose appropriate deployment will be critical if the crypto sphere is to meet its long-term goal of improving the mainstream financial system. Blockchains, and other similar data structures for secure decentralized computing networks, are not only about money. …

The world’s largest stablecoin issuer, Tether, has pledged to eventually stop the practice of lending out funds from its reserves, saying it is “mission critical to restore faith" in the crypto market. In a Dec. 13 post, the stablecoin issuer addressed recent mainstream media FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) concerning its secured loans, among other FUD which have hit the "rumor mill." Tether reiterated that its secured loans are over-collateralized and covered by “extremely liquid assets,” while also adding that the firm would be eliminating these loans throughout 2023, stating: Tether is announcing starting from now, throughout 2023, it will …

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has again labeled Ether (ETH) as a commodity in a Dec. 13 court filing — in contrast to statements from chief Rostin Behnam on Nov. 30 suggesting that Bitcoin was the sole cryptocurrency that should be viewed as a commodity. According to the CFTC, as per their filing today, ETH is a commodity. This really should put any security designation to rest. pic.twitter.com/PkHWredNK4 — Hal Press (@NorthRockLP) December 13, 2022 In its lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX, and sister company Alameda Research, the regulator on multiple occasions referred to Ether, Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether …

Tether executives and Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao worried that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), former FTX CEO, was attempting to destabilize the crypto market aiming to save the now-bankrupt exchange, according to reports on Dec. 9. Messages seen by The Wall Street Journal of a Signal group chat named "Exchange coordination" reveals an argument between CZ and SBF on Nov. 10 about Tether's stablecoin USDT. Members in the Signal group include Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell, Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer of Tether, among others. According to the report, CZ and others in the group worried that trades made by Alameda Research …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has asked its customers to convert their Tether-issued USDT (USDT) stablecoin to USD Coin (USDC), a USD-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle and co-founded by Coinbase in 2018. The cryptocurrency exchange suggested that USDC is a much more secure alternative in the wake of the FTX collapse saga and has also exempted any fee on the conversion of USDT to USDC on its platform. The firm said: “We believe that USD Coin (USDC) is a trusted and reputable stablecoin, so we’re making it more frictionless to switch: starting today, we’re waiving fees for global retail customers …