Tether (USDT) keeps building up momentum on the Ethereum network, potentially creating new flows to and from exchanges. While the supply of USDT remains without change, the velocity of coins increases mostly based on the Ethereum network flows.
Ethereum USDT Transfers Boost Market Liquidity
The total USDT transfer volumes on the Ethereum network just surpassed $100 billion for the first time, up 6,000% since the start of 2019 according to Glass Node.
The Omni-layer USDT is slowing down and is being exchanged to the ERC-20 type once it passes through some of the leading crypto-to-crypto exchanges. At this point, USDT is much harder to track, with even more active transactions.
📢 24H #USDT OMNI Network Stats:
💵 $USDT OMNI On-Chain Volume: $167M (+100.2%)
👈 Active Senders: 8K (+17.0%)
👉 Active Recipients: 11K (+39.6%)Visit https://t.co/u90eafzR5J for more info
— TokenAnalyst (@thetokenanalyst) November 19, 2019
The USDT smart contract now spends more than 2,000 ETH per month, based on EthGasStation statistics. The highly active contract burns around 10% of all gas, with spikes to above 36% during periods of heightened activity. In the past day, as BTC was sold and volumes reached above $18 billion, the ERC-20 version doubled its volume overnight.
📢 24H #USDT ERC20 Network Stats:
💵 $USDT ERC20 On-Chain Volume: $826M (+90.9%)
👈 Active Senders: 29K (+13.0%)
👉 Active Recipients: 34K (+20.8%)Visit https://t.co/u90eafzR5J for more info
— TokenAnalyst (@thetokenanalyst) November 19, 2019
Additionally, there are 855 million USDT on the TRON network. The total supply of USDT has been a constant for months now, a bit above 4.108 billion coins. But the ratio of coins on different networks, and the flows between exchanges mean USDT now has a different effect on the BTC price.
USDT Flows into BTC, Leading Altcoins
More than 76% of all BTC volumes are against USDT, and during the recent sell-off, each coin flowed through the exchanges nearly six times in 24 hours. However, in the past days, no “whale” sized transactions of USDT have been observed. USDT transfers vary widely depending on trading conditions. On some days, volumes spike, or drop, and often predict significant price moves.
The presence of USDT on the Ethereum blockchain means the network is even more strategic for the crypto space. The upcoming upgrades and potential switch to staking can also affect this source of liquidity.
📢 24H #ETH Network Stats:
💲 Price: $181.73 (-1.1%)
💵 $ETH On-Chain Volume: $310M (+86.8%)
👈 Active Senders: 220K (+10.1%)
👉 Active Recipients: 94K (+16.1%)Visit https://t.co/u90eafzR5J for more info
— TokenAnalyst (@thetokenanalyst) November 19, 2019
So far, USDT has not seen any glitches and slowdowns, as the Tether smart contract has the backing of Tether, Inc. and usually relies on higher transaction fees for priority. USDT supports chiefly BTC, but also flows into some of the leading altcoins. Recent inflows boost the stability of Ethereum (ETH), as well as most of the top 10 coins.
What do you think of the influence of USDT? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @thetokenanalyst