Tether Issues $50 Million In New Tokens, Bitcoin Remains Sluggish

The Bitcoin price recently saw a slight bump and rose under 2% in an attempt to extend the market’s weekend recovery this week.

However, even the news that Tether issued $50 million worth of new tokens did not affect the BTC price, which is now again in a slight minus, hovering above the $6,000 mark. In fact, Bitcoin fell from $6,458 to $6,058 and its market cap is also in the red.

Even though there are many factors that impact Bitcoin’s price movements, the weekend rally also correlated with a new issuance of USDT, which is the dollar-pegged “stablecoin” token that was created by the controversial cryptocurrency startup Tether.

As the data from Omni Explorer showed, the Tether Treasury issued 50 million USDT on Saturday, representing a new influx of $50 million into the crypto market. The tokens were transferred to Bitfinex, representing the third time this month that Tether sent $50 million in USDT to that exchange.

With a market cap of over $2.5 billion, Tether is holding $500 million in reserve – funds which have been authorized for issuance but also ones that are not yet distributed.

However, the most interesting correlation is the one between USDT issuance and the Bitcoin price movements. While critics point that the token (USDT) is being used for manipulation of the crypto markets through a fractional reserve, Tether recently hired Free, Sporkin & Sullivan LLP (FSS) which is a legal firm founded by a former FBI director – all in order to review its finances.

The cryptocurrency exchange Kraken also denied that there is any evidence that the token is used to manipulate the Bitcoin price.