Tether Eliminates Commercial Paper From Reserves in Transparency Push

By Mat Di Salvo

Tether has completely eliminated commercial paper from its reserves. The largest stablecoin announced the milestone today in a blog post that it would replace those investments with U.S. Treasury Bills. 

Commercial paper is unsecured, short-term debt issued by a corporation. Tether had previously previously said it would reduce its commercial paper holdings and has gradually done so this year. 

Tether, which issues the world’s most-traded cryptocurrency, USDT, has been criticized by regulators for not being clear enough about what makes up the the reserves that back its token. The company said today's move will help address that concern.

“This announcement comes as part of Tether’s ongoing efforts to increase transparency, with investor protection at the core of the management of Tethers’ reserves,” the company’s blog post said. “Reducing commercial papers to zero demonstrates Tether’s commitment to backing its tokens with the most secure reserves in the market.”

USDT runs on a number of different blockchains, and as the most traded cryptocurrency, it is considered by many to be the backbone of the crypto economy. 

Stablecoins, which are typically pegged to the U.S. dollar but can also be pegged to other fiat currencies and assets such as gold, are important for crypto traders since they are used to enter and exit trades for other cryptocurrencies quickly without the need to access hard cash.

Earlier this year, rumors circulated that a portion of Tether’s commercial paper portfolio was “85% backed by Chinese or Asian commercial papers and being traded at a 30% discount.” 

But Tether denied this, claiming the rumors were fabricated to “induce further panic in order to generate additional profits from an already stressed market.”

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