The price of the Tether cryptocurrency today. (Infobae/Jovani Pérez)
Tether is a cryptocurrency issued by the company Tether Limited. Born as a stablecoin, it was initially stated that each token was backed by one US dollar, however, several controversies have put this point on the table.
Tether was the first stablecoin to exist. It was launched in 2014 by businessman Reeve Collins; bitcoin investor Brock Pierce; and the developer, Craig Stellers. Since then it has become the most important by market capitalization.
Originally tether was available through the Omni Layer, but now they can be accessed on various blockchains. With the approval of Tether Limited, you can switch between USD and Tether, a mechanism that helps keep the stablecoin anchored.
The Tether Limited network in turn is controlled by the owners of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange, which was accused by the New York Prosecutor’s Office of using Tether funds to cover 850 million in missing funds since mid-2018.
Investors and cryptocurrency regulators have also joined the debate by pointing out that the stablecoin is not fully guaranteed, a situation that has taken it to court because its users have no guarantee that their tokens can be exchanged for dollars. On April 30, 2019, the company’s lawyer confirmed that the token was tied to a change of $0.74.
Physical representations of various cryptocurrencies. (REUTERS/Edgar Su)
While the debate is heating up every day about the convenience or not of its use, Tether is trading today at $1,0001099, which represents a change of -0.0% with respect to the last 24 hours and a variation of -0.0% with reference to its value reached in the last hour.
Physical representations of various cryptocurrencies. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic)
A cryptocurrency is a digital medium of exchange that does not physically exist and that uses cryptographic encryption to ensure the integrity of its transactions, while maintaining control over the creation of its new units.
Bitcoin was the first to hit the market and was followed by others that have also had great relevance such as litecoin, ethereum, IOTA, tether, cash, ripple, decentraland, even some born from memes like dogecoin.
Cryptocurrencies have various factors that make them unique: not being regulated by any institution; not require intermediaries in transactions; and almost always use accounting blocks (blockchain) to prevent new cryptocurrencies from being created illegally or transactions already made from being modified.
However, since they do not have regulators such as a central bank or similar entities, they are accused of being unreliable, volatile, encouraging fraud, not having a legal framework that supports their users, allowing the operation of illegal activities, among others. .
An ATM to buy cryptocurrencies. (EFE/EPA/JUSTIN LANE/File)
To buy and exchange them you can through specialized portals. Its value varies depending on supply, demand and user commitment, so it can change faster than traditional money, but the more people are interested and want to buy a certain currency, the higher its value.
However, whoever invests in this type of digital asset must be very clear that this way brings with it a high risk to the capital, because, just as there may be an increase, it can also unexpectedly crash and wipe out the savings of its users.
To store them, users must have a digital purse or wallet, which is actually a software through which it is possible to save, send and make cryptocurrency transactions. In reality, this type of wallet only stores the keys that mark the ownership and right of a person over a certain cryptocurrency, so these codes are the ones that really must be protected.