Tether has minted $1 billion worth of USDT on the Tron network to ensure smooth liquidity management. China’s Supreme Court has updated its interpretation of its 2007 Anti-Money Laundering laws, and now recognize “virtual asset” transactions as a possible means for money laundering. Meanwhile, according to Coinbase, young cryptocurrency voters in key swing states are evenly split by party lines, making it harder to predict whether single-issue crypto voters will swing one way or another.
Tether mints another $1 billion USDT on Tron network
Stablecoin issuer Tether has minted another 1 billion USDT tokens on the Tron network, bringing the total USDT minted in the last year to $33 billion.
On Aug. 20, blockchain data showed that Tether minted $1 billion of its Tether USDTUSD tokens on the Tron network and sent them to its treasury wallet. According to the onchain analytics platform Lookonchain, the “Tether Treasury” wallet minted $33 billion in stablecoin tokens in the last year.
The data platform said 19 billion USDT tokens were minted on the Tron network, while 14 billion tokens were created on the Ethereum blockchain.
Tether’s 1 billion mint on Tron follows another token mint of the same value on Ethereum. On Aug. 13, data tracking platform Whale Alert flagged a transaction that showed that the stablecoin issuer added another 1 billion on Ethereum.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on X that the $1 billion transaction was simply a “USDT inventory replenish” on Ethereum. The executive said that the transaction was authorized but not issued, which means that it will be used as inventory for the issuer’s next batch of issuance requests and chain swaps.
In traditional businesses, inventory replenishment requires stock orders to meet demands. Similarly, Tether may create USDT to maintain a sufficient supply and hold them until they are officially issued. This ensures smooth liquidity management without an immediate release into circulation.
China Supreme Court revises AML law to include “virtual assets”
China’s Supreme Court and public prosecutor have revised their interpretation of the country’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws — now recognizing “virtual asset” transactions for the first time.
The country adopted its current Anti-Money Laundering Law on Jan. 1, 2007, making the latest revision its first significant update in almost two decades.
In an Aug. 19 conference, the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said under their new interpretation of the law, “virtual asset” transactions are now listed as one of the recognized money laundering methods.According to the courts, the transfer and conversion of criminal proceeds through digital transactions will now be covered under regulations that prohibit “covering up and concealing the source and nature of criminal proceeds and their benefits by other means.”
Crypto may not be a partisan issue: Coinbase
According to a survey commissioned by Coinbase, roughly the same percentage of young crypto holders in key swing states identify as either Democrats (41%) or Republicans (39%).
“Young voters can tip the scales for either party – and this is all the more critical in battleground states where a handful of ballots can mean the path to victory for either party,” Coinbase said in its report.
Coinbase added that candidates from both political parties “must pay attention to the young, diverse, pro-crypto constituency that can make or break campaigns” during the 2024 election cycle.
Former President Donald Trump has extended an olive branch to the crypto community, vowing to put Bitcoin and digital assets at the center of America’s innovation economy. This was a major departure from Trump’s anti-Bitcoin rhetoric when he was in office.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris has been largely silent on cryptocurrency since accepting the Democratic nomination.
