Tether, better known for its ticker USDT, is a cryptocurrency whose value is hedged to that of the US dollar. As of June, the daily trading volume of Tether remains above $3 billion, 7 percent higher than the volume of Ethereum.
Merely months ago, Ethereum had the second highest daily trading volume at around $3 billion, while the volume of bitcoin remained above $5 billion. Amidst the third worst correction in the history of the cryptocurrency market, the daily trading volume of bitcoin has fallen to $3.4 billion, while the volume of Ethereum has fallen to $1.7 billion.
Tether is a Good Indicator of the State of Cryptocurrency Market
On cryptocurrency-only exchanges like Binance, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency trading platform behind Coinbase, that do not support reserve currency or fiat currency pairs, traders primarily utilize USDT to hedge the value of major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum, and tokens to the US dollar.
The daily trading volume of USDT can be considered as a direct representation of the volatility in the cryptocurrency market; if the volume of Tether is abnormally large in a downward trend, it signifies that traders are selling cryptocurrencies to USDT, and if the volume of Tether is unusually large in a bull market, it demonstrates that traders are selling their USDT reserves to acquire more cryptocurrencies.
As of late June, in consideration of the $3 billion daily trading volume of Tether and given that USDT is the second most traded cryptocurrency in the global market, it can be said that cryptocurrency holders are purchasing more USDT expecting the downward trend of the market to continue.
Willy Woo, a prominent cryptocurrency researcher and investor, previously stated in late May that bitcoin will likely experience a slow bleed out to the $5,500 region due to the lack of volume in the market and the overly strong hand of bears.
“I think we are gonna go to $5,500 – $5,700 next, I can’t see $7,000 holding. Most likely we’ll balance a bit, then we’ll slide through. Long timeframes here, looking into June for rough timing of this to play out at a best guess,” Woo said, adding that the price of bitcoin probably will not fall below the $5,000 mark.
“I don’t necessarily think we’ll fall through the $5,000s. Sure it’s a possibility but it doesn’t have to. It’s not a repeat, it’s not Mt Gox and Willybot pushing up price with faked orders, we aren’t detoxing from a scam bubble. Technically $5,000s is a very strong support band.”
Tether is Fine
Over the past few weeks, the rising volume and activity of Tether triggered investors to express concerns over the state of the market and the reliability of USDT.
This week, Washington-based law firm FSS composed of three former federal judges and former director of the FBI, revealed the audit results of USDT and concluded that billions of dollars stored in the bank accounts of Tether were verified.
“In conjunction with receiving the above balance information, FSS requested the Chief Financial Officer and the General Counsel of Tether to certify, by sworn statement, the amount of fully-backed USD Tethers that were in circulation as of the close of business on June 1st, 2018. The amount certified to FSS was $2,538,090,823.52 USD Tethers,” FSS said.
phylum 
Jim Kelly 
Blake Johnson 
Evgeni Grinberg 
“Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful” ― Warren Buffett
There remains too much greed and optimism. Be fearful of that. Lower prices are ahead. “this will not end well for Bitcoin”. Warren Buffett. He also said bitcoin does not produce anything and is not considered an investment worthy of your money.
He is also a dinosaur that has stated he “does not invest in anything he does not understand”. I am 31 and I can only just understand blockchains. They are the future. Blockchain will be in all digital and electronic aspects of our lives.
Buffett is worth $82 billion. Probably the wisest investor of our time. Heed is wisdom.
No doubt. But would you agree that he is too old to take risks on things he doesn’t understand?
Why would somebody worth $82 billion risk their money on something that they don’t understand when they are making enough money on things they do? This does not mean they are unworthy investments for people who do understand it.
Look at the market and industry sentiment towards blockchain now. Yeah it was a bubble, that was a no brainer. But millions of jobs are opening up in this sector. Large companies are partnering up, large investment banks are doing a 180 on statements they made just 6 months ago and governments are working to regulate the industry. Does that sound like something that will go away easily?
Did the dotcom bubble stop or reverse the growth of the internet? nope. Once it corrected it has been all eyes up.
Buffett is wise by investing in things that minimize risk. He has made a career of high reward with low risk in technology that is simple to understand. One of his concerns and concern for many is the volatility of bitcoin. While many have been rewarded, others have faced a 50-70% loss on their money. Who can afford an asset like that? While a digital ledger makes sense, the volatility makes it a big risk except for traders, making it more a gamble than investment.
Relax Jim. None of us are billionaires. So none of us can invest like one. Buffet made his money through loop holes and by being a shark. He kept it by investing into SAFE HAVENs like real estate. Nothing ground breaking here. Buffets advice hardly applies to the majority of millenials or young peoples lives.
I think Buffett’s advice does apply to all. He buys undervalued assets, diversifies, and rarely suffers a loss. When he has a loss, he recovers and keeps growing. Plus, he has given away billions of dollars making him also one of the greatest philanthropists. In my opinion, those who share and give are the best role models.