As 2024 Comes To An End, Stablecoins, & In Particular Tether’s USDt, Have Proven To Be Major Winners - We Discuss The Momentous Year That Stablecoins Have Had. According to Coinmarketcap, stablecoins currently have a market cap of USD 212.28B. Tether’s USDt represents 66% of this market cap, followed by Circle’s USDC accounting for USD 42B, accounting for 20%. Athena’s USDe, an algorithmic stablecoin using BTC and ETH basis as backing, is in third place with a market cap of USD 5.9B. This year has been successful for USDt for a number of reasons. The stablecoin added USD ~48B to its market cap since the start of the year. Tether’s CEO Paolo Ardoino views this as a result of USDt uptake in emerging markets where access to traditional USD is strained. In addition, the company has been showcasing the extent of its performance via quarterly financial results. In October, Tether reported consolidated profits of USD 7.7B through the first nine months of 2024, for example. The realization, by some US politicians, that stablecoins offer new demand for US debt has also been a major development for their issuers in 2024.

- Former German Finance Minister Christian Lindner criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz for not adopting BTC in Germany's financial strategy. In a Bundestag speech, Lindner cited the US as an example of crypto-friendly policies, urging a reassessment of Germany's digital finance approach. - Ripple is expected to launch its USD-pegged dollar stablecoin, RLUSD, today. Following an announcement from the company’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse, RLUSD was approved by New York state regulators. The stablecoin is set to be available on platforms such as Uphold and MoonPay. - London-based stablecoin startup BVNK secured USD 50M in a Series B funding round led by Haun Ventures. The company, valued at approximately USD 750M, is focusing on expanding stablecoin adoption in Europe as the region evolves in terms of regulation.

- Bloomberg: ‘Like Buying Lottery Tickets’: Crypto Surge Lures Final Holdouts

- Bitfinex's weekly research note provides an outlook for crypto and BTC into 2025.

- Joseph Vafi, Canaccord Genuity managing director of equity research, discusses crypto market dynamics.