Crypto Industry News:

The market capitalization of Tether (USDT), a US dollar-anchored stablecoin, has increased in recent weeks, potentially fueling Bitcoin's recent rise that has pushed prices to near-historic highs.

Paolo Ardoino, who works as a dual CTO at Bitfinex and Tether, tweeted on Thursday that USDT's supply had increased by 1 billion in nine days, marking the second fastest expansion in its history. The record was set on September 4, 2020, when the supply of USDT in circulation increased by 1 billion in eight days.

Tether has a market capitalization of nearly 19 billion dollars, which means there are approximately $ 19 billion in circulation at a price of $ 1.00. According to CoinMarketCap data, Tether's market capitalization has almost quadrupled since the beginning of 2020.

With the current supply in circulation, Tether has the fourth largest market cap of any cryptocurrency. USDT and other so-called stablecoins offer fiat bridges to the cryptocurrency markets, thus minimizing price volatility and ensuring ease of redemption after the sale of digital assets. While USDT is purportedly backed by real dollar reserves, Tether has never fully audited its bank accounts. In 2019, it was found that the USDT was not entirely pegged to the dollar, but rather that the supply in circulation was only 74% hedged by cash and short-term securities.

Tether is also managed by the same management group that oversees Bitfinex, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It is alleged that Tether and Bitinex manipulated the 2017 bull market, although proving such a claim is difficult due to the complex nature of decentralized cryptocurrency markets.

Technical Market Outlook:

The ETH/USD pair has bounced from the level of $483.30 and now is approaching the level of $600. So far the local high was made at the level of $592.29, because it hit the 38% Fibonacci retracement on the Weekly time frame. The momentum is strong and positive, so the breakout back above the $600 is just a matter of time. After the corrective pull-back is made, the market participants should continue the up trend and test the recent swing high located at the level of $620.52. The is no indication of the up trend reversal on the higher time frames and the monthly close looks very bullish.

Weekly Pivot Points:

WR3 - $771.53

WR2 - $696.42

WR1 - $633.11

Weekly Pivot - $557.97

WS1 - $496.01

WS2 - $420.20

WS3 - $358.90

Trading Recommendations:

The up trend on the Ethereum continues and the next long term target for ETH/USD is seen at the level of $700, so any correction or local pull-back should be used to open the buy orders. Moreover, the bulls has hit the 38% Fibonacci retracement located at the level of $587.53 on the weekly time frame chart, but the current up trend is still valid. This scenario is valid as long as the level of $360 is broken.