With the help of a new strategic hire, Tether will be more open about how its stablecoin is used. Philip Gradwell, who used to be the top economist at Chainalysis, was named the new head of economics at Tether on July 15.
Gradwell is in charge of figuring out how much USDT Tether is using and telling lawmakers and other important people about it.
Gradwell worked for six years at Chainalysis, a company that does blockchain analytics. He will now look at USDT statistics on a global level. Since 2017, the daily trade volume for USDT has been in the billions of dollars. Messari statistics shows that $32.23 billion worth of stablecoin has been traded in the last 24 hours.
Enhancing Tether’s Regulatory Communication
Gradwell said, “Many people still think of digital assets as a mystery. This is partly because the industry focuses on technology rather than real-world applications.” “We need to change the subject to how digital assets are used in the real economy and how USDT supports dollar hegemony,” he says.
Gradwell will have to work with officials, especially in the US, as a significant component of his job. Tether’s interactions with government agencies have been a mix of working together and being closely watched.
The New York Attorney General said that Tether lied about how much cash collateral was behind its tokens. In February 2021, Tether and its partner Bitfinex paid $18.5 million to settle the case.
As part of the settlement, Tether agreed to report on its assets every three months for two years and was not allowed to do business in New York.
Recently, Tether took steps to improve its relationship with the government. For example, it added the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to its platform. Tether helped the US Department of Justice get back about $1.4 million in stolen USDT from a digital wallet that wasn’t stored.
Tether says that Gradwell will be very important in “improving communication with regulatory bodies and stakeholders.”
In recent years, the government’s closer look at the crypto business has helped USDT’s market share. The stablecoin now has 69% of the market share. Circle’s USD Coin comes in second. Based on information from DefiLlama, USDT’s market value is now $112 billion.
