The world’s leading stablecoin issuer, Tether, has announced the launch of its fifth fiat-pegged token.
On June 22, Tether announced that it will launch tokens pegged to the British Pound Sterling in early July. The new GBPT stablecoin will initially be on the Ethereum network.
This latest addition brings the total number of stablecoins Tether issues to five. There is the dollar-pegged USDT, a Euro-pegged EURT, a Chinese Yuan CHNT, and the Mexican Peso MXNT.
A Sterling Stablecoin
Tether stated that the move was driven by the UK Treasury’s plans to make the country a global crypto hub. However, the central bank, like most others, still wants to keep crypto on a leash and heavily regulated.
Furthermore, the British government also reportedly plans to make stablecoins a valid form of payment. Again, this may not be specific to companies such as Tether or any other cryptocurrencies.
#Tether To Launch GBP₮
Tether Tokens Pegged to the British Pound Sterling 🇬🇧Read the full press release ⬇️https://t.co/vN6RngE28S pic.twitter.com/t4Yf8hrUZ2
— Tether (@Tether_to) June 22, 2022
“We believe that the United Kingdom is the next frontier for blockchain innovation and the wider implementation of cryptocurrency for financial markets,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether.
He added that Tether is ready and willing to work with UK regulators on the issuance of the GBPT. The new stablecoin will reinforce GBP as one of the most dominant currencies across the globe. Additionally, it introduces new forex opportunities between GBPT, USDT, and EURT.
Binance tested a GBP-pegged stablecoin in 2019 but it was quashed by UK regulators.
Tether Market Share Dwindles
Tether has been reducing its supply of USDT over the past couple of months. As a result, the stablecoin’s supply has fallen almost 20% from 83 billion to 67 billion USDT. It is still the market leader with a 43% share but that is also dwindling as supply shrinks.
Rival stablecoin issuer Circle is gaining fast with 56 billion USDC circulating. This gives it a market share of 36%. Furthermore, USDC has not seen a supply shrink like USDT and is still close to peak levels.
The total market cap of all stablecoins is around $155 billion, according to CoinGecko. This represents more than 16% of the total crypto market cap, the highest ever dominance for stablecoins.
The metric is bearish because investors are moving out of cryptocurrencies and into stablecoins. Additionally, crypto markets have fallen again today with total cap at $941 billion. This represents a fall of almost 70% from the all-time high of just over $3 trillion in November 2021.
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