USDC Market Capitalization Drops 50% as Tether Rises in Popularity
The market capitalization of Circle's stablecoin USDC has fallen by approximately 50% in the past year, with its current market cap standing at around $26.7 billion. This is due to competition from Tether, which has seen a 27% increase in market cap since July 2022. USDC's credibility has also been affected by a temporary de-pegging to $0.97 following the insolvency of Silicon Valley Bank.
Crypto Firms FTX and Terraform Labs Make Controversial Hiring Moves Amidst Turmoil
This week's hiring news was dominated by two crypto companies facing controversy: FTX and Terraform Labs. Terraform's founder and former CEO Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro and indicted for securities fraud in the US, leading to the collapse of the company's algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and crypto token Luna. Chris Amani has been appointed as Terraform's new interim CEO and is expected to revive the company's blockchain and community.
Terraform Labs' New CEO Faces Uphill Battle to Revitalize Failed Stablecoin Terra (UST)
Terraform Labs' new interim CEO, Chris Amani, is open to the return of co-founder Do Kwon, but faces a daunting task in revitalizing the company behind the failed stablecoin Terra (UST). Following UST's depegging from the dollar, the Terra community has charted a new course without algorithmic stablecoins.
Former Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon Jailed, COO Takes Over as Company Faces Uphill Battle
Chris Amani, who previously served as Terraform Labs' COO and CFO, has taken over as CEO in the absence of former CEO Do Kwon, who is currently in jail in Montenegro awaiting possible extradition. Amani stated that the company is not planning to launch another stablecoin, but instead wants to create products with real utility for users.
Safe Partners With Monerium To Integrate $60B in Digital Assets With European Banking System
Safe, a smart wallet provider, has partnered with Monerium, a stablecoin issuer, to enable euro on- and off-chain payments. The collaboration aims to integrate $60 billion in digital assets with the European banking system. Monerium's regulated stablecoin, EURe, will be usable with Safe's smart web3 accounts, allowing developers to link web3 wallets to euro bank accounts via Safe{Core}'s toolkit.
Crypto Startup Ethena Raises $6M for Ethereum-Backed Stablecoin USDe
Crypto startup Ethena has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Dragonfly for its new stablecoin, USDe, which is secured by ethereum derivatives. To maintain its dollar peg, USDe uses collateral from users to hedge price exposure by shorting ethereum using perpetual swaps, holding equal amounts of staked ETH and perpetual swaps to cancel out any gains or losses.
USDP Whales Double Holdings as Accumulation Continues: Negative Flows Dominate
Prominent investors, or "whales," have shown increasing interest in the Paxos Dollar (USDP) stablecoin, with whale addresses intensifying their accumulation efforts since the start of July. While USDP may not rank among the top five stablecoins, it has seen a surge in metrics and currently has a significant volume of over 76% held by whales.
USDC Circulating Supply Falls by $100 Million in a Week
Circle's USDC stablecoin has experienced a decrease in circulating supply of around $100 million in the past week due to redemptions exceeding new coin issuance. This trend has been ongoing for the past year, resulting in a reduction of approximately $28 billion from USDC's market capitalization.
Stablecoin Operator Shifts TrueUSD Control to Offshore Owner
The operator of stablecoin TrueUSD (TUSD) has transferred control of it to offshore owner Techteryx. The $2.8 billion stablecoin will be fully managed by Techteryx from May 7, 2021, having previously been operated on its behalf by Archblock. Although the BVI-registered company purchased the rights to TUSD from Archblock in late 2020, it has been employing Archblock to manage the project on its behalf.
Binance.US Delists USD Advanced Trading Pairs
Binance.US, the US-based branch of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, will no longer support trading for certain USD Advanced Trading pairs. The move is part of the exchange's transition to a "crypto-only exchange," where only trading against other cryptocurrencies and stablecoin pairs will be supported.
