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History
Founded in 2014 by the American company Tether Limited, Tether and its USDT (United States Dollar Tether) currency is a stable cryptocurrency. Running on both Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain, Tether is a product which facilitates the transition from a volatile resource (a cryptocurrency) to an asset that does not change over time, a stablecoin. The stablecoin birth is a cornerstone for the whole crypto market: prior to its creation, in order to purchase cryptocurrencies, there was the need to go through exchanges via wire or bank transfers; however, that process, especially for traders, was clearly inefficient due to the extensive banking procedures and price volatility.
How Tether works
Mainly made for banking institutions and large investors and then extended to retailers and other small players, Tether allows users to deposit an amount of capital by receiving the same amount in a digital coin called USDT, a stablecoin which “follows” a legal tender currency, specifically US Dollar.
The idea behind Tether gets inspiration from J.R. Willett’s Mastercoin, the ICO creator (Initial Coin Offering). Brock Pierce and Craig Sellars, respectively official member and CTO of the Mastercoin Foundation, are Tether’s co-founders, joined by Reeve Collins, co-founder of SmartMedia Technologies. At the beginning, the Tether cryptocurrency was known as Realcoin. Four months after its foundation, Realcoin was renamed Tether.
The most famous stablecoin in the world has often been associated with the Bitfinex-Tether scandal. In April 2019, the New York Attorney General accused Bitfinex (at the time, one of the most trending cryptocurrency exchanges) of using Tether funds to cover Crypto Capital Corp losses worth $850 million. Tether Limited is a subsidiary of the Bitfinex exchange, therefore shares the same ownership with the well-known exchange (CEO Jl Van Der Velde and CFO Giancarlo Devasini). Even before those accusations made by the New York Attorney General, the platform had been accused of inflating the value of Bitcoin by having the right to "print" new Tether.
Is Tether safe?
Tether safety is guaranteed by the Omni protocol, which uses the Bitcoin blockchain as my others, including Ethereum, where Tether are minted as ERC20 tokens. Tether circulating supply is ensured by Tether Limited reserves. In the past it was claimed that full coverage was guaranteed exclusively by US dollars. At the moment, Tether Limited official website specifies that the collateral reserve holds US dollars and other assets, including borrowed capital granted by Tether to third parties. It is good to remember that the company keeps a daily tracking of all the assets on the various blockchains being added into the collateral reserve, such as Tron, Eos, Ethereum, Bitcoin and others.
Why you should learn blockchain?
DeFi, Agrifood, IoT, Sharing Economy, Insurance, Art, Gaming, Law. Blockchain’s use cases are endless, and understanding the way to make this technology even more efficient is just the beginning. One of the most relevant field of application is the industrial sector, where countless jobs of the future could theoretically be replaced by smart contracts, oracles and AI.
Here’s what it takes:
By checking different job vacancies, this is a list of the most relevant skills and requirements:
- Understanding of algorithms, data security, decentralized technologies and data structures.
- A solid background in coding skills, with at least one of the following programming languages: Python, JavaScript, JAVA, C, C++.
- General understanding of ledgers, blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
- Expertise in performance management and anomaly detection.
- At least basic experience in building blockchain frameworks and business applications.
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