Tether came under mounting strain on Thursday, pushing the price of one of the most important assets in global crypto markets well below its $1 peg.
The $80bn stablecoin, which is designed to track the value of $1, fell as low as 95.11 cents early in the European trading day on Thursday, according to a CryptoCompare index that tracks trading on the world’s top digital asset exchanges.
Stablecoins claim to provide crypto traders with a safe place to park their cash between making bets on volatile cryptocurrencies. Tether, by far the world’s biggest stablecoin, plays a crucial role in facilitating trading across the crypto market and also provides a link with the traditional financial system.