The largest cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has announced to list Tether (USDT) on its professional trading platform. Coinbase Pro will allow deposits in USDT if liquidity conditions are met before April 26 – the trading launch. After the supply limit of Tether is fulfilled, trade in BTC-USDT, ETH-USDT, USDT-EUD, USDT-GBP, USDT-USDT, and USDT-USDC will be enabled in post-only, limit-only and full trading subsequently.
However, Coinbase only supports ERC-20 Tether based on the Ethereum blockchain. The launch of USDT on Coinbase Pro does not entail that the stablecoin is supported by the mobile application or the retail trading platform and the exchange has reported to make a separate announcement if it were to happen.
Tether is a stablecoin backed by USD which means that every Tether token is backed by US dollars in Tether’s bank accounts. Tether is pegged 1 to 1 to USD. However, the company’s claims that each Tether is backed by equal US dollars in the company’s reserves turned out to be false. Tether Limited has since found itself tangled in controversies. In the announcement, Coinbasealso hinted that the NASDAQ-listed exchange is not worried about the controversy surrounding Tether.
Recently, New York Authorities had alleged that Tether is not, in fact, backed by the US dollars as the company claims. The lawsuit by the attorney general of New York shook Tether Holdings Limited to its core. However, the lawsuit could not proceed as a settlement was reached between the parties. Bitfinex and Tether were required to pay a fine of $18.5 million and submit reports of their reserves. The stablecoin has been complying with the requirements and the company’s consolidated reserves report shows USDT is fully backed by USD.