Tether and TRON Collaborate to Issue New Version of USDT Tokens
Tether (USDT) has taken a step to further their prospects in the cryptocurrency industry by collaborating with Tron to launch the stablecoin on the Tron blockchain.
is with the Foundation in an effort to pursue the launch the dollar-pegged USDT stablecoin as a TRC-20 token. TRC-20 is a technical standard used by the Tron blockchain for implementing tokens, similar to and compatible with ethereum’s ERC-20 standard. They are planning to introduce USDT to the Tron network by Q2 2019.
This will allow users to more easily transact with decentralized applications (dApps) and protocols based on the Tron blockchain, the companies said. Specifically, they hope to improve decentralized exchange liquidity and make Tron more accessible to institutional investors by providing the stablecoin option to the network.
Given the severe price volatility of cryptocurrency throughout the last year, a period which is now being referred to by some as the “crypto winter,” the advent of a stablecoin will be a welcome addition to TRON merchants and developers looking for more peace of mind in their transactions.
As we already , Tron CEO Justin Sun had announced the imminent roll out of a hard fork, which took place on Feb. 28, designed to deliver institution-friendly functionality, alongside features such as multi-signature abilities and account management options.
The expansion of the Tron ecosystem took a significant step last year with its of popular peer-to-peer torrent client BitTorrent. The latter launched its native, Tron-based BitTorrent (BTT) token at the start of 2019, which will power the pair’s plans for an evolving decentralized content distribution platform.
Widening Their User Base
Tron has been in several collaborations with many major players in the cryptocurrency industry. The new collaboration with Tether will definitely widen its user base as more users will patronize the project now that TRX can be used with the USDT stablecoin especially in the heat of this bear market.
Jean-Louis van der Velde, Chief Executive Officer of Tether :
“We are pleased to announce this collaboration with the Tron Foundation. This integration underlines our commitment to furthering innovation within the cryptocurrency space as we continue to anticipate the needs and demands of the digital asset community. “
Justin Sun, founder of TRON and CEO of BitTorrent said:
“Our collaboration with Tether to bring a USDT TRC-20 token to TRON will bring incredible stability and confidence to users. As we perform and execute on our vision, they can easily redeem their tokens for US dollars.”
Indeed this collaboration couldn’t have come at a better time as the market is in the reds and at times like this, stablecoins are the only tokens that are in the greens as they are right now, including Tether USDT. This will be of great benefit to Tron and make TRX more useful for transactions.
What may be of interest is that (BTC) saw the influence of Tether (USDT) increase dramatically as selling accelerated in the new week. BTC dropped on Tuesday, at around $3,765.45 in the time of writing. The price is down just 0.75% in the past 24 hours, but the new week sell-off is starting to worry traders.
Based on data on Monday, BTC trading has above 77% of all activity happening in the BTC/USDT pair. The record weight of Tether spread to all markets, making it responsible for more than 27% of crypto volumes. The usage of stablecoins shows that trading is currently limited to the crypto ecosystem, with little inflows of fiat funds. Due to the difficulty of handling fiat, stablecoins are also taking over.
In the case of BTC, the Monday sell-off shows that USDT is still used as a safe haven. With BTC volumes exceeding $7.8 billion in the past 24 hours, the increased activity sees the stablecoin used as protection against volatility.
BTC market prices have been stuck in the range of $3,800 to $4,200. However, the current stagnation is starting to remind of the almost zero volatility around the $6,000 level, which was followed by a sudden crash to $4,000 and below. Expectations are that a BTC bottom is yet to materialize as 2019 progresses. Extreme predictions have prices sliding below $1,000 again.
The hard fork is drawing closer by the day. Within little over two weeks after the publication of this article, a group of bitcoin companies and miners plans to double bitcoin’s block weight limit as per .
But it currently seems certain that not everyone will adopt this incompatible protocol change. As such, the SegWit2x fork would result in two different blockchains and two different currencies. For the purpose of this article, these two blockchains will be referred to as the “original chain” and the “SegWit2x chain,” with their respective coins.
The big question, right now, is which of these two blockchains would be considered the “real” bitcoin, with the currency ticker “BTC.” Since no single individual or entity is really in charge of this decision, bitcoin exchanges play a major role: they list the currencies that are traded under specific names.
To find out which coin is likely to earn the ticker “BTC,” here’s an overview of the 20 largest bitcoin exchanges based on trading volume according to data from , and their stance on this naming issue.
1. Bitfinex: original chain is “BTC”, SegWit2x chain is “B2X”
Hong Kong–based cryptocurrency exchange is the largest bitcoin exchange in the world by trading volume.
Interestingly, Bitfinex also offers a futures exchange, on which claims on the future versions of the coins on both chains are already traded. These futures are currently labeled as “BT1” for coins on the original chain, and “BT2” for coins on the SegWit2x chain.
In Bitfinex’s of these futures, published on October 5, as well as the accompanying , the exchange also reveals that “the order books for the BT2 trading pairs will become the order books for the B2X pairs.” Meanwhile, the BT1 futures will be settled into BTC.
In other words, the coins on the original chain will be listed as “BTC”, while the coins on the SegWit2x chain will be called “B2X.”
2. BitMEX: original chain is “BTC”
, a cryptocurrency exchange officially based in the Republic of Seychelles, is the second-largest bitcoin exchange in the world based on trading volume.
In a published on October 13, BitMEX announced it would continue to list coins on the original chain as “BTC.”
Moreover, because SegWit2x will not implement strong , BitMEX will not list coins on the SegWit2x chain at all, nor offer any other type of support.
3. Bitstamp: unknown
, which is officially based in the United Kingdom but operates from several European countries, has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork. The exchange also did not respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine.
Bitstamp did sign a insisting on consensus and strong replay protection for hard forks earlier this year, though that statement referred to a potential Unlimited
hard fork — not SegWit2x.
4. GDAX: hash power decides which chain is “BTC”
U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange is effectively the exchange-arm of Coinbase. And Coinbase is a signatory of the .
Regardless, it’s not certain that Coinbase (and therefore probably also GDAX) will list coins on the SegWit2x chain as “BTC.” In fact, the company could well list the coins on the original chain as “BTC” — but public statements have been somewhat contradictory.
The company initially put out a saying that the coins on the original chain would be listed as “BTC,” and the coins on the SegWit2x chain as “B2X.” However, this initial statement was effectively withdrawn the very next day, as the company put out a “clarifying” that Coinbase will actually list the coins with the most accumulated hash power backing it as “BTC.” And on , company CEO Brian Armstrong suggested that it’s not just hash power but also market cap that will decide which coin will be listed as “BTC.”
bitFlyer is also a signatory of the in support of the SegWit2x hard fork, which suggests that the exchange will at least support the coin on the SegWit2x chain. bitFlyer has not yet made any public statements concerning the naming of the coin(s), however, and did not respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine.
6. Kraken: unknown
U.S.-based bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork, either.
In response to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine, the exchange also refrained from commenting on the naming issue and instead stated:
“Kraken makes no promises/guarantees/warranties on the outcome of the fork. We will make our best effort to handle things in a way that benefits the most clients, but clients should manage their own wallets/coins if they want perfect control.”
7. HitBTC: original chain is “BTC”, SegWit2x chain is “B2X”
Like Bitfinex, cryptocurrency exchange is already offering a where the two future coins are traded.
And in an published on October 17, the exchange said it will list the coins on the SegWit2x chain as “B2X.” The coins on the original chain will continue to be listed as “BTC.”
However, HitBTC does note that the “bitcoin community might encourage ‘BTC’ title being relocated to the SegWit2x token.” They added: “Whatever happens, we will proceed with the decision that will be the most convenient for our traders.”
The German bitcoin exchange .de has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork. The exchange also did not respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine.
9. CoinsBank (formerly known as BIT-X): original chain is “BTC”
United Kingdom–based cryptocurrency exchange (formerly known as BIT-X) has not made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork.
In response to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine, however, the exchange indicated that it will list coins on the original chain as “BTC” and will not support the SegWit2x chain. They stated:
“We inform you that we are proponents of the BTC core and not planning to support other branches.”
10. CEX.IO: original chain is “BTC”, SegWit2x chain is “B2X”
United Kingdom–based bitcoin exchange will list coins on both chains. In a blog post published on October 20, the exchange it will list the coins on the SegWit2x chain as “B2X.” It also states in the announcement that coins on the original chain will continue to be listed as “BTC.”
11. itBit: unknown
U.S.-based bitcoin exchange has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork. The exchange also did not respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine.
12. Gemini: hash power decides which chain is “BTC”
In an October 24 written by Cameron Winklevoss, one ’s founders, the U.S.-based bitcoin exchange explained that it “will be measuring total cumulative computational difficulty of the blockchain to determine what we will call bitcoin and BTC and on the Gemini platform.”
In other words, Gemini will give the name “BTC” to the coin that has the most hash power attributed to it.
It may also list the coin that does not attract the majority of total hash power, but the exchange has not given any guarantees yet, nor did it mention a name for this coin.
13. Coinfloor: unknown
U.K.-based bitcoin exchange has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork. The exchange also did not respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine.
Coinfloor did sign the insisting on consensus and strong replay protection for hard forks, which originally referred to the potential bitcoin Unlimited hard fork.
14. BTCC: hash power decides which chain is “BTC”
Like Bitfinex and HitBTC, Hong Kong–based bitcoin exchange is already offering a where the two future coins are traded. These coins are currently referred to as “1MB” for the coin on the original chain, and “2MB” for the coin on the SegWit2x chain.
And, according to the concerning this futures market, BTCC will after the fork “consider the version of bitcoin that has the most proof-of-work behind it as bitcoin (BTC)”. In other words, BTCC will give the name “BTC” to the coin that has the most hash power attributed to it.
15. BitMarket: unknown
Polish bitcoin exchange has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork.
The exchange did respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine, but it did not reveal which coin will be listed under what name or ticker.
Instead, a BitMarket representative stated:
“We reserve the right to decide whether to support or not [the] given fork of the bitcoin. Our decision will depend on the stability of the fork’s network and what issues it may cause in the future.”
16. QuadrigaCX: unknown
Canadian bitcoin exchange has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork. The exchange also did not respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine.
QuadrigaCX did sign the insisting on consensus and strong replay protection for hard forks, originally referring to the potential bitcoin Unlimited hard fork.
Brazilian bitcoin exchange recently signed a on behalf of the Brazilian and Argentinian bitcoin communities in opposition of SegWit2x.
When asked by bitcoin Magazine, the exchange further explained that it may or may not list the coins on the SegWit2x chain, which will in part depend on whether or not the SegWit2x chain implements strong replay protection. (This currently seems very unlikely.)
If Mercado bitcoin does list this coin, it will use the ticker “B2X” because “the market is converging to this ticker.” They added: “We also tend to consider the Core version the legitimate one.”
18. Bitso: unknown
Mexican bitcoin exchange is a signatory of the in support of the SegWit2x fork. The company has since also that it will support coins on both chains — even though it did sign the bitcoin Unlimited–inspired insisting on consensus and strong replay protection for hard forks.
Regarding names and tickers, a Bitso representative told bitcoin Magazine:
“We have not yet decided on ticker names but hope to make an official statement soon.”
19. The Rock Trading: original chain is “BTC”
Malta-based bitcoin exchange has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork. It did, however, sign the bitcoin Unlimited–inspired insisting on consensus and strong replay protection for hard forks.
And, when asked by bitcoin Magazine, The Rock Trading CTO Davide “Paci Barbarossa” Barbieri said the exchange will list the coins on the SegWit2x chain as “B2X” — if the exchange lists that coin at all.
Said Barbieri:
“As stated publicly, we are generally against any hard forks; we do not currently guarantee that we will handle SegWit2x, or that we will list it; as far as I know replay protection is still a concern.” And: “If we do [list the coin on the SegWit2x chain] we will probably call it B2X or something like it.”
20. EXMO: unknown
U.K.-based cryptocurrency exchange has not yet made any public statements concerning the SegWit2x fork. The exchange also did not respond to inquiries from bitcoin Magazine.
This article will be updated as the news develops. Did I miss anything? Feel free to let me know at aaron@bitcoinmagazine.com. This article was last updated on October 28th.
With the rise of cryptocurrencies over the recent years, speculators have come alive with spirit, yet the mainstream audience continues to remain relatively shy.
