The CEO of CryptoQuant, a digital asset analytics firm, has shared some interesting insights about Tether (USDT). He believes that demand for USDT remains strong, even as the largest stablecoin is facing widespread delisting.
Recently, European crypto exchanges decided to stop supporting USDT. They’re doing this to comply with the new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, which took effect on December 30th. This regulation requires stablecoin issuers in the European Union (EU) to obtain specific licenses. Unfortunately, Tether hasn’t met these requirements.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, USDT's market cap dropped from $140.5 billion to $138 billion over the past week. This decline is linked to the regulatory challenges Tether is encountering in the EU. It’s also causing a bit of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) in the market. At the moment, USDT is trading at $0.998, which is slightly below its usual 1-to-1 peg with the US dollar.
However, Ki Young Ju, CryptoQuant’s CEO, sees things differently. He believes Tether isn’t significantly impacted by these changes. In a recent post on X, he shared a chart showing USDT's exchange reserves. These reserves indicate how much USDT is held on exchanges. Typically, an increase in reserves suggests buying pressure for stablecoins.
He commented, “Tether FUD: EU exchanges are delisting USDT ahead of MiCA. USDT is losing its power! Actual impact on exchange USDT reserves:”