Yellow.com News

The minting of USDT, the world's largest stablecoin by market capitalization, has dramatically declined on Ethereum and Tron networks. Over the past six months, issuance has fallen from $7 billion to just $1 billion. Sound like a catastrophy, yet it isn't. This sharp decrease coincides with a broader market contraction in June. It indicates reduced trading activity and waning demand for cryptocurrencies during this period. The question is, however, how serious this might be in a long-term perspective. An analyst on X highlighted this trend. And came up with a possible explanation, saying that the decline in minting activity reflects diminished blockchain utilization on both networks. Tron remains a preferred network for USDT minting despite Ethereum's dominance. It offers superior scalability and lower transaction costs. Ethereum has made strides in scaling. The emergence of layer-2 platforms like Base and Arbitrum has bolstered its ecosystem. Recent upgrades, such as Dencun, aim to reduce transaction costs on these layer-2 solutions. The drop in USDT minting suggests a broader decline in crypto demand. Historically, large-scale USDT minting has correlated with rising Bitcoin and crypto prices. Until minting activity resumes on these leading smart contract platforms, Bitcoin and major altcoin prices may remain suppressed. Tether, USDT's issuer, recently partnered with Uquid. The collaboration aims to modernize payments for the Philippines' Social Security System using the TON blockchain. Simultaneously, Tether announced the cessation of USDT minting on Algorand and EOS networks. Redemptions will continue for another year. USDT can still be minted on over ten platforms. The total USDT minted to date exceeds whopping $110 billion. Who says cryptocurrency isn't conquering the world right now?

Tether's USDT stablecoin on the TRON network has overtaken Visa's daily transaction volume. We've been waiting for this for quite a while. This marks a significant milestone in the cryptocurrency sector. Market intelligence firm Lookonchain reported the development on social media platform X. The 24-hour trading volume of USDT on TRON reached $53 billion earlier this week. That's 10% more than the previous day. Meanwhile Visa's average daily trading volume stood at $42 billion. In general, Visa processed $3.78 trillion in transactions during Q1 2024. Tether recently launched a new gold-backed stablecoin called aUSDT. The digital asset is backed by Tether Gold (XAUT), which is linked to physical gold reserves in Switzerland. Paolo Ardoino, Tether's CEO, commented on the launch: "While the stabilization mechanism is different compared to traditional options like USDT, this innovative solution marks an exciting milestone." Ardoino also revealed plans to incorporate this technology into Tether's upcoming digital asset tokenization platform. So it becomes clear that Tether's is going to try to keep its leadership in the stablecoin space. Not to mention that the surge in USDT's volume on TRON highlights the growing importance of stablecoins in the digital economy. A few years ago we would only laugh at people who could assume that stablecoins will overcome such a financial monster as Visa in volumes.

Sorry, Satoshi Nakamoto, we have failed you. On-chain data suggests Bitcoin is no longer being used as electronic cash. Most users see it as an equivalent of 'digital gold'. According to CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Jum, Bitcoin’s circulation has recently slowed down. The velocity of the token, which shows how is the crypto circulating the market, speaks for itself. Most of the Bitcoin on the market spend time sitting tightly in the wallets of their owners. There was a time when Bitcoin velocity kept rising. For instance, during the 2021 bull run. So it seemed as if Satoshi Nakamoto was right in his predictions. The peak of that velocity was reached in the middle of 2022. it coincided with the flourishinf of the bear market. But since then Bitcoin velocity has been only falling, Ki Young Jum states. As of now, the velocity indicator has reached its lowest for the last 13 years. In other words, today's BTC circulation rate is the same as in 2011. Back then no one basically knew what Bitcoin was. Nowadays, it is considered as one of the most promising financial instruments. Yet, nobody is actually using it. Seems like people have forgotten what Satoshi created Bitcoin for. We see is as an asset rather than a decentralized currency for everyday use. Yes, Satoshi's vision was simple. Bitcoin was originally meant to be cash in electronic form that works peer-to-peer. That would eliminate the need for any central entity like banks. But what we see is suggesting Bitcoin missed the target completely. Instead of becoming 'digital cash' it has become 'digital gold'. That implies no frequent transactions and erevyday use for most of the users. Some analysts say that the arrival of institutional investors to the scene this year is going to finalize this transition. Bitcoin ETFs will suck in a significant portion of existing BTC eventually. As well as companies like Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy that keep buying Bitcoin only to hold it for a long period of time.