USDT is owned by iFinex Inc., a Hong Kong holding company. It’s also the owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.

USDT is the first stablecoin. It was originally published on the Omni layer of the Bitcoin blockchain, before also being published on Ethereum, among others.

Stablecoins classification

Stablecoins can be divided into three categories:

• fiat-collateralized: UDST falls into this category,

• over-guaranteed by crypto-currencies,

• unguaranteed (algorithmic).

Fiat-collateralized stablecoins are backed by fiat currencies. Stability is therefore guaranteed by the issuer: there is one dollar corresponding to each USDT token. The USDT is therefore backed by the dollar in a 1:1 ratio. You could call it a store of value.

With stablecoins over-guaranteed by crypto-currencies, stability is ensured by users. These stablecoins are therefore super-secure.

Non-guaranteed stablecoins are algorithmic. And these algorithms aim to manipulate the money supply in order to stabilize the exchange rate.

Stablecoins can also be divided into two categories:

• centralized: these stablecoins hold their reserve assets off-chain; they are therefore controlled by a central authority: UDST falls into this category,

• decentralized: these stablecoins hold their reserve assets on-chain using other cryptocurrencies and smart contracts.

Revenues

The net profit of USDT is $1.48 billion in Q1 2023. These revenues are broken down as follows:

• lending (loans),

• investissements,

• fees for the verification of an account: $150,

• deposit fees (issuance fees) : these are fees when you create stablecoins by handing over collateral (0.1%),

• withdrawals fees (redemption fees) : these are fees when you redeem stablecoins for the original collateral (0,1%, with minimum fees of $1,000 dollars to discourage low-volume redemptions).

Reserves

Note that in order to reassure on the securing of reserves, some evolutions have been conducted on USDT reserves:

• Reducing the secured loans in line with its previous commitments,

• Increasing US Treasury Holdings,

• Reducing counterparty risk on bank deposits, particularly in the event of bank failures (reduced by over 90%).

In fact, a web page is dedicated to transparency on USDT reserves on the official website:

Reserves Breakdown : https://tether.to/en/transparency/#reports