More USDT Printed after Bitcoin Fell on Saturday

Bitcoin caused jitters over the weekend, sliding below $14,000 before bouncing back. But the most recent slump did not come without another tranche of Tethers, or USDT, printed just hours ago from the mint wallet.

The USDT are then usually sent over to Bitfinex to boost liquidity. But previous tranches may also be at work, allowing margin trading to lift the BTC price by hundreds of dollars in one hour.

While exchanges that allow cash deposits are commanding a higher price compared to Bitfinex, the presence of USDT is creating a series of problems, including delayed withdrawals. Currently, Tethers are very rarely withdrawn.

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Some believe the recent rise in the price of Litecoin may be due to the ease of withdrawals and sending, due to the coin's reliable network and still low profile. Other underestimated altcoins may include Ethereum Classic (ETC).

"I cannot withdraw - just got tethered thanks finex@Bitfinexedpic.twitter.com/IYIRfPLrdS"

At the moment, the Bitfinex price has lowered the disparity with GDAX, but the effect of the Tethers is still unknown in the coming days.

While the Tether company is still to present an audit, there is evidence that the previous runner of Bitfinex, RenRenBee, was also the connection between the two companies. The license of RenRenBee is running out soon and the company should present renewed information in the coming days.

In addition, new registrations with Tether are now closed:

No explanation is given on the need to suspend new accounts, and the company redirects to the latest announcements of the 30 million USDT re-directed to a hacker address at the end of November.

At the moment, the circulating supply of USDT is more than 814 million, while the 24-hour trading volume is above $1.5 billion, meaning the whole supply of Tethers is traded almost twice in 24 hours.