USD Coin (USDC) is taking a run at the title of the top stablecoin in crypto after its daily ‘real volume’ on the Ethereum network doubled that of Tether’s (USDT) on Tuesday. According to crypto market data tool Messari, Circle’s USDC posted $1.1 billion in daily real volume on the Ethereum network on Tuesday, which was double USDT’s real volume of $579 million. Messari’s real volume metric is calculated by compiling data only from exchanges that it believes have “significant and legitimate crypto trading volumes" and thus differs from the more commonly seen “total volume” metric. Exchanges included in Messari's …

The 2022 version of crypto winter has been unlike anything we’ve seen before. As I warned last month, the meltdown of the Terra ecosystem didn’t end with Luna Classic (LUNC) hitting zero. The biggest threat was contagion. As the dust began to settle, we finally got a glimpse of who was left holding the bag. Crypto lender Celsius and Singapore-based venture firm Three Arrows Capital suffered heavy losses during the debacle. These firms, once a staple of the budding crypto industry, now risk demise following weeks of massive selloffs in the market. Celsius reportedly seeks advice from lawyers on restructuring …

The total crypto market capitalization fell off a cliff between June 10 and 13 as it broke below $1 trillion for the first time since January 2021. Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 28% within a week and Ether (ETH) faced an agonizing 34.5% correction. Presently, the total crypto capitalization is at $890 million, a 24.5% negative performance since June 10. That certainly raises the question of how the two leading crypto assets managed to underperform the remaining coins. The answer lies in the $154 billion worth of stablecoins distorting the broader market performance. Even though the chart shows support at the …

Tether (USDT), the biggest stablecoin and the third-largest digital currency by market capitalization continues losing its market value amid the current market downturn. On Thursday, USDT’s market cap dropped below $70 billion for the first time since October 2021. The drop followed a cascade of repeated declines shortly after the USDT market value reached its all-time high above $80 billion in May. At the time of writing, Tether USDT’s market capitalization stands at $69.3 billion, up around $300 million from the multi-month low, according to data from CoinGecko. Tether’s biggest rival, USDC, is the second-largest U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by …

Just two months after losing $15.6 million in a price oracle manipulation exploit, Inverse Finance has again been hit with a flash loan exploit that saw the attackers make off with $1.26 million in Tether (USDT) and Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC). Inverse Finance is an Ethereum-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol and a flash loan is a type of crypto loan that is usually borrowed and returned within a single transaction. Oracles report outside pricing information. The latest exploit worked by using a flash loan to manipulate the price oracle for a liquidity provider (LP) token used by the protocol’s money market …

The total supply of stablecoins saw its sharpest drop in history during Q2 2022, with stablecoin redemptions spiking as a result of “short-term liquidity and concerns about insolvency that were not present during the panic of 2020," according to data analytics firm Coinmetrics. CoinMetrics head of research and development Lucas Nuzzi highlighted the data via Twitter on June 16, with a graph showing the total supply of stablecoins since January 2020. “22Q2 is the first time in the history of stablecoins where Total Supply decreased. Even if we exclude UST, over 10B has been redeemed *directly from the treasuries* of …

Bitcoin (BTC) has been unable to restore the $24,000 support since Celsius, a popular staking and lending platform, paused withdrawals from its platform on June 13. A growing number of users believe Celsius mismanaged its funds following the collapse of the Anchor Protocol on the Terra (LUNA; now LUNC) ecosystem and rumors of its insolvency continue to circulate. An even larger issue emerged on June 14 after crypto venture capital firm Three Arrows Capital (3AC) reportedly lost $31.4 million through trading on Bitfinex. Furthermore, 3AC was a known investor in Terra, which experienced a 100% crash in late May. Unconfirmed …

Crypto lending platform Celsius Network has onboarded restructuring lawyers from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to find potential solutions to the firm’s financial woes. The firm is reportedly looking for other strategic alternatives, such as a financial restructuring, apart from its attempts to solve its current problems. The report also noted that Celsius is trying to find investors who would be able to provide financing options for the crypto lending company. Citing extreme market conditions, Celsius paused withdrawals from its platform on Monday. Amid the withdrawal freeze, the firm has unstaked around $247 million in wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) from …

The major stablecoin company Tether is looking to eventually get rid of commercial paper backing for its United States dollar-based stablecoin Tether (USDT). Tether issued an official statement on Wednesday to deny reports alleging that Tether’s commercial paper portfolio is 85% backed by Chinese or Asian commercial papers and is being traded at a 30% discount. The stablecoin firm called such allegations “completely false,” reiterating that more than 47% of total USDT reserves are now the “United States Treasuries.” In its latest assurance opinion issued in May, Tether reported that commercial paper makes up less than 25% of USDT’s backing, …

The ongoing crisis of Celsius’s native token has nothing to do with the stablecoin provider Tether and will not impact its USDT reserves, according to the company. Tether issued a statement on Monday regarding the major cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius halting withdrawals due to its rumored liquidity crisis. According to the statement, Tether’s lending activity with Celsius has “always been overcollateralized” as with any other borrower and “has no impact” on the company’s reserves. The announcement also described the ongoing issues with Celsius as an “unfortunate result of market volatility and extreme market conditions.” The Tether company is the issuer …

Do Kwon, the CEO and co-founder of the infamous Terra (LUNA) and TerraUSD (UST) ecosystems, refuted the claims of cashing out $80 million every month for nearly three years. Numerous unconfirmed reports surfaced on Saturday, claiming Kwon’s participation in draining liquidity out of Luna Classic (LUNC) and TerraUSD Classic (USTC), before the crash to purchase United States dollar-pegged stablecoin such as Tether (USDT). Rumors about Kwon cashing out LUNA and UST reserves surfaced after a Twitter thread by FatManTerra shared the alleged details on how Kwon, along with Terra influencers, managed to drain funds while artificially maintaining the liquidity. Some …

The total crypto market capitalization has been trading in a descending channel for the past 29 days and currently displays support at the $1.17 trillion level. In the past seven days, Bitcoin (BTC) presented a modest 2% drop and Ether (ETH) faced a 5% correction. The June 10 consumer price index (CPI) report showed an 8.6% year-on-year increase and crypto and stock markets immediately felt the impact. Still, it’s not certain whether the figure will convince the United States Federal Reserve to hesitate in future interest rate hikes. Mid-cap altcoins dropped further, sentiment is still bearish The generalized bearish sentiment …