According to CEO Paolo Ardoino, Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has minted “authorized but not issued” one billion USDT. Blockchain tracking platform Whale Alert made a post on December 26th, revealing that Tether Treasury minted one billion USDT ($1 billion) on December 25th.
Company Official Makes a Statement
Following the announcement by Whale Alert on Twitter, Tether CEO Ardoino responded, stating that the transaction was an “inventory replenishment” on the Ethereum blockchain.
Ardoino said,
Remember this is an authorized but not issued transaction, meaning this amount will be used as inventory for future issuance requests and chain swaps.
In traditional finance, inventory replenishment means ordering stock from suppliers in time to meet customer demand and prevent potential stock shortages. Tether defines this inventory replenishment as the process of creating new USDT stored as “authorized but not issued” in Tether’s treasury inventory.
Tether’s FAQ section states, “These tokens are not part of USDT’s total market capitalization as they have not yet been issued or entered circulation.”
According to the transparency section on the Tether website, as of December 26, 2023, there are 925 million USDT “authorized but not issued” on Ethereum.
Ardoino’s latest statement is consistent with another 1 billion USDT transaction uncovered by Whale Alert in September 2023. In this context, Ardoino clarified that the USDT transaction was not an actual issuance but an authorization, stating that this amount would serve as inventory for upcoming issuance requests on the Tron network.
Doubts Over Tether
Some individuals and organizations observing the market have shared their suspicions regarding Ardoino’s latest statement and Tether’s authorized but not issued transactions.
One commentator questioned Ardoino’s authority and said:
It would be interesting to review the document or agreement and learn more about the people responsible for this Christmas miracle of creating 1 billion USDT out of thin air.
There were also positive rumors. The recent USDT minting could be used to support the Bitcoin price. Some crypto followers linked Tether’s USDT minting to a rise in BTC price.
In a statement made by Tether in November 2023, the growth of USDT was attributed to valid reasons. One of these was the excitement around the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund expected to be approved in January.
