Cryptocurrencies are a kind of fusion between the global economy and technology. Today, thirteen years after their birth, they seem to gain more and more strength in the world population. In these thirteen years, many things have happened, both positive and negative. However, today we have one of the most important for you, the creation of USDT (Tether), which has served as a bridge between fiat money and cryptocurrencies.
To define Tether, there is no predetermined meaning. However, it is celebrated as the first stablecoin in the crypto universe. Its origin dates back to 2013, and although it changed its name several times, its conception and definition remain the same.
This cryptocurrency that has united the best of both worlds can be stored in a non-custodial USDT wallet for protection. Remember that in the world of cryptocurrencies, “your keys, your cryptocurrencies”.
History
Its first name was Mastercoin and was devised by Block Pierce and software developer Craig Sellars who worked on creating a protocol that would interact with Bitcoin in mid-2013. This idea germinated and grew to become Realcoin.
After evolving completely, it would give way to what we know today as USDT, the acronym of the most virtual fiat currency in the world (USD) and the initial of the project’s creators (Tether Limited). The company promised that each Tether issued would be 100% backed by its original currency in its white paper.
Main Use
For traders, the volatility resulting from trade between Bitcoin and any Altcoin is too high; that is why this Stablecoin was born as a solution to this problem by establishing a pair between the Altcoin you want to trade with and the digital version of the dollar.
This is its main reason for being. However, it is not the only reason; it also serves for traders to save their income from operations in a digital version of the fiat currency and, to a lesser extent, as a bridge between fiat money and cryptocurrencies.
Tokenomics
As of the publication date of this article, Tether has a market capitalization of $66,487,088,189, ranking third in that section among cryptocurrencies only behind Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to Coinmarketcap.
Blockchains
Since its inception on Omni Layer Protocol, Tether has gone through and remained on networks such as Tether Liquid, Tether ERC-20 (Ethereum), Tether TRC20 (Tron), Tether on EOS, Tether on Algorand, and Tether on Solana.
USDT Exchange
To exchange dollars in your bank account for USDT, you need to make a transfer to Tether Limited; then, a 1:1 relationship is established in which the company (Tether Limited) transfers the tokens to the account opened by the user, and finally, the user has his funds like any other cryptocurrency.
It is worth clarifying that this process is not unidirectional, i.e., you can perform the process in reverse to convert your USDT to USD. In addition, there is the possibility of buying in exchanges such as Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken, and Poloniex.