Russians Turned to Tether During Wagner Revolt

Russian citizens sought refuge in tether amid the brief mutiny of the Wagner mercenary group that shook their country. The ruble-denominated trading volume of the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin spiked during the short-lived rebellion, market data revealed.

Timeline of Tether

The Wagner Group's revolt caused a heightened state political-economic uncertainty which may have forced many to buy into other assets. Tether's USDT represents one of the easiest routes especially after the sanctions imposed on Russia.

The trade volume between the Russian ruble and Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) saw a significant increase over the weekend, nearly quadrupling from $4 million Saturday to $15 million Sunday, as per data from crypto analytics firm CCData. What Happened: This surge coincided with the capture of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, and his forces' subsequent advance toward Moscow, seemingly in an attempt to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Stablecoin issuer Tether could become one of the most profitable companies in America this year. According to some analysts, its earnings could be even greater than those of asset manager BlackRock.

Binance.US, the U.S.-based arm of the world's largest crypto exchange Binance, on Friday announced that it has successfully worked with banking partners to resolve all USD withdrawal issues on the crypto exchange. However, it warns banking partners may terminate the service in the near future and recommends converting USD fiat balances to stablecoins.

This move comes after weeks in which the company minted billions of dollars in USDT and Paolo Ardoino, Tether's Chief Technology Officer, shed light on the reasons for this practice.

Last week, CoinDesk received documents in response to a New York state Freedom of Information Law request about the details of Tether's reserves. These documents were released two years after our original filing in 2021 and only after a full-blown legal fight with Tether, which CoinDesk won in February.

India is on the verge of a banking revolution, as J.P. Morgan, one of the world's leading investment banking firms, joins forces with six major Indian banks to implement blockchain technology for 24/7 transactions. This partnership marks a significant step toward utilizing blockchain's potential in facilitating interbank dollar settlements.

Documents provided to the New York Attorney General's office as part of Tether's settlement in 2021 reveal that the company held Chinese securities in the reserves backing its stablecoin USDT at the time, Bloomberg News reported.

According to information released by the New York Attorney General (NYAG), Tether, the issuer of leading stablecoin USDT, reportedly deactivated around 29 accounts tied to significant players in the cryptocurrency sphere in 2021. While reasons for the individual account terminations remain undisclosed, the named entities included MoonPay, BlockFi, CMS Holdings, and Galois Capital.

Tether has responded to concerns raised about its recent operational decisions. The New York Attorney General (NYAG) released documents indicating that Tether deactivated approximately 29 accounts belonging to prominent cryptocurrency players in 2021.