  Weekly insights, news and analysis for the professional investor By Galen Moore, Director of Data & Indexes August 1, 2021 Sponsored by  Prices as of 08/1/21 @ 8:15 a.m. UTC If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.
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THE BRIEFING What's going on with tether? This week, the crypto market again shrugged off bad press for one of its most critical service providers. The issuers of the stablecoin tether (USDT) are reportedly in the sights of the U.S. Department of Justice for misleading banks about the nature of their business.
 The chart here shows the supply of tether and USD coin (USDC), the second-largest stablecoin by supply. Since the end of May, tether's supply has been stuck at $64.3 billion. The two-month doldrums is remarkable for a currency that had tripled between Jan. 1 and May 31.
Tether has long been dogged by allegations that it's not backed by real dollars — that its issuers are pumping up the price of cryptocurrencies using units of tether issued out of thin air. Obviously, traders either don't believe that, or don't care: Tether has largely kept its peg to the dollar, even if its financials may be dodgy.
Trading crypto implies a certain degree of comfort with risk. I guess nobody goes to the cashier's window at the Bellagio and demands to see their audited balance statements, either.
Still, the question of tether's solvency is one of systemic importance. Tether and other stablecoins act as money-market funds in crypto markets. Tether is used mostly in offshore venues like Binance. The difference between these offshore exchanges and a casino is that price discovery happens on these venues.
Tether could be part of a market-crash scenario, in which a sudden flood of discounted tether crashes the price of bitcoin or other liquid crypto assets. It's unlikely to have the kind of systemic impact that fell out from the run on Lehman Bros.' money-market fund, the Reserve Primary Fund, in 2008. That event precipitated a run on all money-market funds.
Tether is different from stablecoins like USDC that are audited, and it goes beyond how one money-market fund differs from another. Even as its growth has slowed, and then stagnated, growth in USDC has continued, as the chart below shows.  That's not due to some kind of flight from tether into the relative safety of a more regulated stablecoin, as tether's maintenance of its $64.3 billion supply shows. It's more likely the influx of new investors who can't, or won't, deal in tether or trade on offshore exchanges. This would include professionals and institutions, especially those that have fiduciary responsibility for investor funds.
That underscores the difference between tether and USDC: These aren't two flavors of the same thing. One is audited for one-to-one backing, the other isn't. As such, they are different kinds of products, used by different users in different places. It wouldn't be smart to assume that a crisis of confidence among offshore traders using tether would spread to other stablecoins. In that light, tether may not be systemically important in the same way the Lehman Bros. money market fund was. But the risk of a tether crash is a systemic risk that underlies any investment in crypto assets.
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CHAIN LINKS Bank of America was a leading strategic investor in Paxos' recent $300 million Series D. TAKEAWAY: The second-largest bank in the world (by market capitalization) is showing interest in the future of blockchain and cryptocurrency. Bank of America also opened bitcoin futures trading for select clients earlier in the month.
Coinbase highlights ether's explosive growth in trade volume during the first half of the year. TAKEAWAY: Ether's trading volume grew 3X faster than bitcoin's in the first half of 2021, which Coinbase attributed in part to institutional clients building positions in the asset. The growth in network usage may have signaled further use case in cryptocurrencies.
Goldman Sachs filed an application for a decentralized finance (DeFi) ETF. TAKEAWAY: The ETF is composed of companies that have shown interest in blockchain technology, but has little to no relation to actual DeFi. Nokia, Facebook and Alphabet are the top allocated equities in the proposed ETF.
Tether executives face a potential criminal probe on bank fraud charges. TAKEAWAY: The largest stable coin by market capitalization, USDT, faces a new round of challenges as the U.S. Department of Justice probes into Tether's banking history. The Tether team has been plagued with legal trouble starting back in 2018.
A message from CoinDesk 
The dynamic crypto mining industry has been even more active following China's crackdown. The global hashrate has largely shifted to North America, making the U.S. a key mining hub where institutions now take central stage.
In this sponsored webinar on Aug. 10, Foundry CEO Mike Coyler explains how this new demographic of miners have special requirements, which the company has been catering to through its rapidly growing Foundry USA Pool and other services.
Podcast episodes worth listening to: 
A message from Coindesk 
Even though many countries in the Middle East restrict or outright ban activities related to blockchain technology, the region is having its crypto moment. From Dubai's first-of-its-kind Bitcoin Fund listing to the Bank of Israel's trial of a digital shekel, interest is picking up in the region as crypto companies work closely with regulators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to gain some clarity about oversight of digital currencies.
Join us as we jet-set through the Middle East on our #CryptoState2021 virtual tour and explore how different markets are thinking about crypto, their roadblocks and challenges, and crypto's impact on the region. Register for the Crypto State: Middle East virtual tour on Aug. 11.
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domingo, 1 de agosto de 2021
Top Binance Alternatives & Why You Need One Right Away
Posted by Carlos Morato on 10:33
Hi Carlos
We are living in interesting times!
The world's most popular cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, is being arm-twisted by regulators of many countries in the world.
If history has taught us anything, it would be "First comes the innovations and then comes the regulation 😎". The cryptocurrency industry is experiencing the same change and you have to be careful and mindful, for the next 1-2 years.
Careful, because you might not want to be putting all your eggs on a single exchange or single service that is facing major regulatory hurdles, as this could increase your risk.
Do not misunderstand me, as I'm not saying Binance will cease to exist in the days to come. In fact, I believe Binance will come out stronger, after facing these regulatory hurdles around the globe. At the same time, this will also set a standard for the entire crypto industry.
To keep it short, let me suggest a few things:
- As of August 4th, Binance will limit the daily withdrawals to 0.06 BTC for users who have not completed the KYC. However, if you plan on doing your KYC, you need not worry about anything. In case you don't want to do your KYC, then withdraw your extra funds from Binance and keep them on a self-custodian wallet, such as Ledger Nano X or Trezor.
- If you are Malaysian, you should use an alternative to Binance, due to the fact that the Malaysian SEC has asked Binance to shut down it's operations in that country,
Here are some of the best Binance alternatives, as of 2021:
- 1- FTX exchange: Get a lifetime 5% trading fee discount with this special link.
- 2 - Huobi Global: Great track record and high volume.
- 3 - AscendEX: For high quality projects and advanced exchange features.
- 4 - MEXC Global: For many low-cap gems.
If you are in the USA 🇺🇸 , you should be using the following:
- Coinbase Pro
- Kraken: This is the favorite of many US-based CoinSutra users.
I'm keeping an eye on the current situation and will keep you posted if things escalate. I suggest you make sure to add this email address to your contact list so that you don't miss out on the latest updates. You can also join us on our Telegram channel here, which is another great way to stay connected with the CoinSutra community.
Also, if you want to read in-depth about these Binance alternatives, you can head over here.
Do check out my video on the new Binance update here.
That's all for now,...I will see you in the next email!
Regards
Harsh Agrawal
GoldenTree Adds Bitcoin to Its Balance Sheet: Report, $100K in Bitcoin Up for Grabs as FTX's MLB Team-Up..
Posted by Carlos Morato on 10:04
Assinar:
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Crypto Long & Short: What's Going On With Tether?