Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of crypto exchange Bitfinex and stablecoin issuer Tether, is set to go into the story of the latter in an industry-first keynote at the CryptoCompare Digital Asset Summit.
According to a press release from the event, Ardoino will provide insights into how Tether has managed to continuously innovate to maintain its position in the cryptocurrency space as the world’s leading stablecoin issuer – its USDt token accounts for over 75% of all Bitcoin trading volume.
Ardoino’s keynote, dubbed “The Story of Tether,” will both go into Tether’s inception and its success. In the release he was quoted as saying:
Through continuous innovation, Tether is stronger than ever. I am excited to share an overview of our story so far and provide a glimpse into our exciting plans for the future.
It’s worth noting that Bitfinex and Tether share management. The cryptocurrency exchange is one of the oldest still standing, being founded in 2012. In an interview with CryptoGlobe from November 2019, Ardoino detailed how the company dealt with a much-publicized lawsuit form the New York Attorney General, which accused the firm of involvement in an $850 million ‘cover-up’.
The lawsuit alleged Bitfinex lost the funds because of a third-party payment processor, and that it used Tether’s USDt stablecoin to cover up the less. Bitfinex contested the “meritless and mercenary lawsuit.” While USDt is Tether’s most popular stablecoin, the firm has issued other cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of fiat currencies.
Tether has over time added support for the offshore Chinese Yuan via the CNHt stablecoin, and for the euro via the EURt. More recently, it launched a cryptocurrency pegged to the value of gold, XAUt, which is available as an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain and as a TRC20 token on the TRON blockchain.
Each XAUt token represents ownership of “one troy fine ounce of physical gold on a specific gold bar” held in a Swiss vault. The developments are noteworthy as not long ago Tether was accused of manipulating the price of BTC via the issuance of new tokens, as critics claimed bitcoin’s price rose whenever new tokens were minted.
CryptoCompare’s Digital Asset Summit is London’s leading digital asset conference and focuses on connecting the digital asset ecosystem and traditional finance. It’s scheduled for March 10 and anticipates over 1,000 industry professionals – including leaders from companies like IBM, Gemini, BitMEX, Coinbase, and Fidelity Digital Assets – will attend.
Featured image from Tether’s homepage.
