United

Bitcoin

Tether’s United States dollar-denominated stablecoin has surpassed the record $120 billion market capitalization for the first time, signaling a potential crypto rally.
Tether’s USDt (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/tether-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">USDT</a>), the world’s largest stablecoin, surpassed the $120 billion mark on Oct. 20, <a href="https://tether.to/es/transparency/?tab=usdt" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">according</a> to the firm’s website, which offers live updates of the stablecoin’s supply.
<figure>
 <img alt="Tether’s USDT hits record $120B market cap, flashing ‘Uptober’ signal" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/0192a9e3-a39b-784e-8e3b-26d630afabc2" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Tether Tokens in circulation. Source: Tether.to
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Stablecoins are the main on-ramp between the world of fiat currencies and digital assets. A growing stablecoin supply is often used as a signal to predict an upcoming bull rally, as it suggests that investors are loading up on stablecoins before investing in cryptocurrencies.
The growing USDT supply could help catalyze the next Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">BTC</a>) rally. In August, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tether-usdt-mint-bitcoin-65k" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Tether minted $1.3 billion</a> of USDT in five days after the Bitcoin price <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/3Z94myyP/?symbol=BITSTAMP%3ABTCUSD" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">bottomed</a> at a five-month low of above $49,500 on Aug. 5.
By Aug. 9, the $1.3 billion USDT helped Bitcoin stage an over 21% recovery to trade at $60,271 from the Aug. 5 market bottom.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-trader-9-m-profit-3-days-3000-fold-return-on-investment" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Crypto trader profits $9M in 3 days, hits 3,000x return on investment</a>
<h2 id="can-120-billion-usdt-catalyze-the-uptober-bitcoin-rally">Can $120 billion USDT catalyze the “Uptober” Bitcoin rally?</h2>
Tether’s growing stablecoin supply could catalyze the next “Uptober” rally (crypto slang for October) because the month is historically bullish for the Bitcoin price.
Looking at Tether’s treasury flows, a significant portion is being sent to some of the largest <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/centralized-vs-decentralized-crypto-exchanges" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">centralized exchanges (CEXs</a>), signaling incoming buying pressure from investors.
Arkham Intelligence data <a href="https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/address/TKHuVq1oKVruCGLvqVexFs6dawKv6fQgFs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">shows</a> that during the past 48 hours, Tether’s treasury sent over $66 million worth of stablecoins to Binance and over $20 million worth of USDT to the Kraken exchange.
<figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin Price, Tether, Stablecoin, Ether Price" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/0192aa04-b927-7470-b0ea-ac955b18f083" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Tether treasury outflows. Source: Arkham Intelligence
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Conversely, a lack of stablecoin inflows often leads to a crypto market correction. On Aug. 12, Bitcoin price fell below the $60,000 psychological mark, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-drops-below-59k-institutional-stablecoin-pause" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">staging a near 4% correction</a> as institutions temporarily stopped buying USDT.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-etfs-liquidity-boost-sec-nyse-etf-options-approval-qcp" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Bitcoin ETF liquidity set to surge after SEC options approval — QCP</a>
<h2 id="can-bitcoin-stage-a-breakout-before-the-end-of-october">Can Bitcoin stage a breakout before the end of October?</h2>
Based on historical chart patterns, some analysts expected a three-month <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-3-month-historic-rally-analysts-92k-btc" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Bitcoin rally to $92,000</a> after September’s downtrend.
October is historically the second-best month for Bitcoin price, with average returns of 21%, second to November, which averages over 46% monthly returns for Bitcoin, <a href="https://www.coinglass.com/today" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">according</a> to CoinGlass data.
<figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin Price, Tether, Stablecoin, Ether Price" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/0192aa05-1226-74d9-b146-ba79ad80f46c" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Bitcoin monthly returns percentage. Source: CoinGlass
 </figcaption>
</figure>
During the previous <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-halving" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Bitcoin halving</a> year in 2020, the price rose over 27% in October and over 42% in November in a six-month rally that lasted until March 2021.
To confirm a potential breakout from its current crab walk, Bitcoin needs to close the week above $68,700, <a href="https://x.com/rektcapital/status/1847319844599058481" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">according</a> to popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital.
<figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin Price, Tether, Stablecoin, Ether Price" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-10/0192aa06-0d47-74da-bb13-ab9a258f8535" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USD, 1-week chart. Source: Rekt Capital
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Growing Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows could contribute to Bitcoin’s potential breakout. <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-etfs-cross-record-20-b-net-flows-but-btc-subdued-under-68k" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Bitcoin ETFs surpassed</a> the record $20 billion milestone in total net flows on Oct. 17, just 10 months after launching.
In contrast, it took gold-based ETFs nearly five years to cross this same $20 billion milestone.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/bitcoin-price-ethereum-etf-thomas-fahrer/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Bitcoin $500K prediction, spot Ether ETF ‘staking issue’— Thomas Fahrer, X Hall of Flame</a>

Tether’s USDT hits record $120B market cap, flashing ‘Uptober’ signal

Table of Contents

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Oct 20, 2024

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!