Bitcoin Forum

If you think Bitcoin is the world's most widely used cryptocurrency, you're probably wrong.

What’s the world’s most widely used cryptocurrency? If you think it’s Bitcoin, which accounts for about 70% of all the digital-asset world’s market value, you’re probably wrong.

While concrete figures on trading volumes are hard to come by in this often murky corner of finance, data from CoinMarketCap.com show that the token with the highest daily and monthly trading volume is Tether, whose market capitalization is more than 30 times smaller. Tether’s volume surpassed that of Bitcoin’s for the first time in April and has consistently exceeded it since early August at about $21 billion per day, the data provider says.

With Tether’s monthly trading volume about 18% higher than that of Bitcoin, it’s arguably the most important coin in the crypto ecosystem. Tether’s also one of the main reasons why regulators regard cryptocurrencies with a wary eye, and have put the breaks on crypto exchange-traded funds amid concern of market manipulation.

“If there is no Tether, we lose a massive amount of daily volume -- around $1 billion or more depending on the data source,” said Lex Sokolin, global financial technology co-head at ConsenSys, which offers blockchain technology. “Some of the concerning potential patters of trading in the market may start to fall away.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-01/tether-not-bitcoin-likely-the-world-s-most-used-cryptocurrency

If this is really the case, shouldn't it be worded as "most traded cryptocurrency" rather than "most widely used cryptocurrency"? Because as far as I know, though Tether is being widely traded for sure, not only for BTC, but for other alts, but I'm pretty sure Tether is very rarely being used as a method of payment and as a store of value, which actually people use bitcoin for. There's a quite significant difference between "most widely used" and "most widely traded". It really depends on user intent.

Having a higher volume trading in the market does not mean that it is the most used cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has much more used than that Tether, Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that can be converted to fiat, Tether is just another altcoin, bitcoin is still the most used cryptocurrency.

I don't remember ever seeing "Tether accepted here" sign, I never saw someone posting their Tether address on their site for donations, I don't know about any company that accepts Tether as a payment method, I never saw anyone accepting Tether for trades on this forum. Meanwhile I saw all those things done with Bitcoin many times. So, your whole argument is wrong, because crypto's usability is absolutely not measured with its trading volume. Bitcoin isn't the king just because of its price, or marketcap or volume, it's also by far the most used cryptocurrency as a payment method. This isn't even because Bitcoin is very popular, it's just that all other cryptocurrencies are even more unpopular.

I'm actually pleased to hear that the speculators have a new favourite plaything.  Daytraders are just victims-in-waiting, so when they invariably get burned through hacks, market manipulation or exit scams, hopefully the negative headlines might get attributed to USDT instead, heh.  It also doesn't surprise me in the slightest that they'd pick such a poor "coin" (doesn't meet my definition of the word cryptocurrency, anyway) with serious doubts over the legitimacy of its backing.  I'm suspicious of so-called stablecoins in general, but Tether seems to be by far the shadiest of them.  Ultimately, USDT lives primarily on exchanges and has little utility outside of them.  That's not how crypto was designed to be used and confers none of the benefits of being in control of your own funds.

Give me BTC in a wallet that I control any day.  

People just see as bitcoin as a quick money scheme... The guy who wrote this probably is thinking that the only use of bitcoin is for trading.
Bitcoin is a mean of payment, as we can see in this forum for example. I doubt that there are many people working for USDT. It is possible and it would be interesting, ofc, but it is not common.

Additionally, USDT uses bitcoin or ethereum blockchain. So, if you are using USDT for payments or trading, you are using the bitcoin network.

This is surely an eye opening one for the way things are being seen but and its about giving another angle to it. However, concluding that its wrong that bitcoin is mostly used would be self contradictory. From the above, it's stated that bitcoin occupies 70% of the entire crypto market, I don't know any other explanation on the contrary that could flip that position. Again Tether is one unique one in its own way and it has been an avenue that people have used to ensure they keep their funds in a stable currency and they can invest back easily without the hassle of transferring in and out of their bank account. Its simply a vehicle to me and not a crypto.

Stable coins like Tether, USDC, etc, are a godsend. It makes day trading much easier to get into for a newbie like me. If it weren't for stable coins, I would avoid trading period due to the volatility of the market. I still haven't really earned anything trading, in fact, I've lost more than I've initially invested, but I'm getting better with each trade thanks to stable Tether, for now I only trade pairs with stable coins, so I guess I still have on my trading pull-ups, still a junior  :P.

You are not holding USDT in hopes for its price to spike do you?

Of course USDT is paired to most coins we regularly trade which is why its the widely use but I personally wouldn't consider this USDT a crypto though, they were even just created by bitfinex for the trading purpose so whenever we can move out funds to USDT when btc price is about to dive.

A bunch of garbage. If the headline is "most widely used" then it does NOT include merely trading.  Bitcoin is obviously more widely used (however you define that) given the market cap is much larger.  Just because you don't move your bitcoins daily doesn't mean you aren't using them.  You may be using them for investment gains, protection of governments, purchases, savings or anything else.

Of course, what do you expect from Bloomberg, they like fake news.

So many people do not even know what Tether is, I doubt if there is anyone who is not an enthusiast that has heard about tether, there are even question marks about whether we should call tether a cryptocurrency in the first place, because it's more or less like a fiat currency.

Tether is not the most used cryptocurrency, if it can be called one, in fact it's only used by day traders who simply want to make profit off it, the bitcoin doesn't guarantee immediate profits, with all its volatility, but it is the main driving force behind the blockchain technology as its most widely used and accepted for diverse purposes, not just for 'trading'.

Exactly! And honestly, I have never used Tether up until this time. I am familiar with Tether but haven't had the chance to trade nor use it. That article should rectify the usage of the phrase most widely used to most widely traded. They are misleading non crypto users also by publishing that article. Bitcoin still remains the most widely used crypto. How many shops, merchants, companies are using bitcoin vs tether as means of their payment method? I guess tether is trailing behind bitcoin.

Emphasis on murky. 95% of reported trading volume is fake (https://www.forbes.com/sites/cbovaird/2019/03/22/95-of-reported-bitcoin-trading-volume-is-fake-says-bitwise/#767dc34a6717). Tether markets are more likely to include fake volume because it's often listed on unregulated exchanges with lax KYC standards.

Hmm.. isn't tether is there to store value because it is almost resistant to fluctuation in terms of USD value?  I believe it is more used than Bitcoin in this case but that aside, I agree with you.

I'd like to know what used means to these people. To use bitcoin means to spend it, to give it to someone as a gift, to save it. Tether isn't used it's only tradade. Analogically you could say that a stock or a bond is being used. This is a play on words and nothing more. Most people in the world don't even know what tether is. Ask a random person if they know what bitcoin is and then ask them about tether. You'll see that more people heard about bitcoin that tether!

Absolutely! How come they have the guts to spread misinformation not only to the community but to the entire financial industry as well! Also, I find it quite ridiculous since Bloomberg.com is one of the leading online site catering to the finance industry and yet didn't review that article's title and revised it a little bit to clarify things out. Was this a FUD directed to discredit Bitcoin which might be lobbied by financial giants from wall street? Maybe it is or maybe not!

I'm sure the Bitcoin community would immediately react to this kinds of misleading news since the phrase "The worlds most used cryptocurrency" could be easily misinterpreted where in fact it could have been " The worlds most used in trading cryptocurrency"! and I guess Bloombergs editor isn't doing his or her job exactly! Another thing is that Tether's trading volume did surpassed against Bitcoin's volume but I guess it will not be consistent in the long term and is just temporary so BTC will likely take that position again in due time. Imho.

This is not the true, this is wrong information, if you really understand the use of Tether you'll realize that you can't confirm this stated on thread
Tether is used to trade, to have your money stable during some time to trade
BTC is the most used crypto nowadays

Ignoring the half-truth tidbit used by the article as clickbait, I would actually argue that Tether isn't all that important for the crypto ecosystem. It's true that the role it plays is vital to crypto trading, but it's also disposable in that there are a lot of other stablecoins that can take its place should it collapse. Sure Tether collapsing would be a big deal, but Bitcoin collapsing would mean the end of crypto as we know it; which is the most important coin in the crypto ecosystem now?

Sure. Temporarily and mostly only for the short-mid term though, while waiting for better prices to buy bitcoin. Because remember that one of the reasons why bitcoin was created so we wouldn't be needing to hold constantly inflated US dollars. I'd say if you want something that's resistant to fluctuations in terms of USD value, then it'd make more sense to actually hold USD not USDT. Because as most of us know, Tether is quite a shady coin.

You are making me confused after all, I just read your thread and start thinking about what is going in the cryptocurrency platform, Am I saw it really? I think your perception is a little bit wrong, I am sure that Bitcoin is the most widely used without no doubt, It's number one and mother of all crypto, not only that but also Bitcoin is the most popular crypto in the current context, no doubt about this. But honestly, saying that I never found anywhere Tether is being accepted or traded more than Bitcoin, maybe it's my limitation of knowledge about the crypto world but it might not be the Tether is making any impact on this market so far you know, I think Bitcoin has the capability to make impact on this market when the price goes up and downs, so it can be said that easily Bitcoin is the most influential coin in this platform. forget about the widely used.

OP is probably doesn't know the difference between Bitcoin and USDT, otherwise, he would not compare pears and apples and put them in the same basket. Not only that USDT is a stable coin that is pegged with real $, but it has an unlimited supply which the owners can increase according to their needs.

Not too long ago we learned that not all USDT is backed up with $, maybe some 70% is backed with $, rest is backed with some other assets that no one really knows what this is about. This is crypto which is created out of nothing, maybe is backed by nothing, which actually leads to the conclusion that it is not worth anything.

Journalists often use defiant "viral" headlines to get the attention of a wider audience. I doubt that the Tether is generally a cryptocurrency. There are some external signs of cryptocurrency, but is not the internal essence more important?

LOL.. nothing could be farther from the truth than this statement by the OP. For starters, Tether is not a full fledged cryptocurrency and it doesn't even have a platform of its own. As of now, Tether is operating on the Omni Layer platform. I would say that it is a digital version of the United States Dollar, which has been modified to be traded as a cryptocurrency.

And secondly, the trade volume that you see from the exchanges is not the real figure. How can you explain $20 billion volume in 24 hours, when the market cap of Tether is just around $4 billion? Most of the exchanges use Tether as an equivalent currency to USD. The trades that happen in these exchanges are not with the real USDT, but with the virtual USDT. Outside the exchanges, the USDT has hardly any usage.

So in short, Bitcoin remains as the most popular, most traded and most trusted cryptocurrency as of now. Tether doesn't even come close.

The Tether bubble is going to burst when people realize that it is not backed 1:1 to the US Dollar. They say it is, but deeper investigations has shown that it is not. I have yet to see any merchant in my country that accepted Tether in their establishment and you rarely see any website accepting Tether as a currency.

So what is it really.... Well, the logical answer is a on ramp and off ramp between Fiat and Tether to Bitcoin and Visa Versa. Traders feel more comfortable to trade in asset backed Crypto currencies and in the end most of that are traded to Bitcoin to be of any use.  ::)

seems many are wrong actually

bitcoin does remain the dominant crypto to talk about and is merchants preference, but that does not show the most widely used or traded.
here is the thing nearly everyone gets wrong.

the numbers found on the screen when looking at exchanges or trade volume sites representing a balance, an order or volume are not cryptos. they are basic database entries 

the very short explanation is. if it didnt happen on the blockchain, it didnt happen.
if your not using the crypto technology then its not crypto your trading.
exchange balance is not a crypto, its a mysql database of ascii numbers that are in no way the same as a crypto.

when you deposit crypto to an exchanges preferred address, the crypto becomes the exchanges. they trade you with giving you some vapour value in their database and you play with that vapour value on their service(NOT USING CRYPTO) and then when your done you make a request to trade the vapour value back for crypto by requesting a withdrawal. it is this point that a crypto trade takes place where on the blockchain you see funds move to an address of the users preference.

and its these stupid lazy out dated database models that are not blockchains, that allow malicious exchange owners and ghost traders to do things like manipulate the price, fake volume or simply just steal the real coins

They simply take an example from the banking system, where the provision of their own capital usually does not exceed a few percent (however, banks do not so often declare bankruptcy). The question is not whether the Tether is backed 1:1 to the US Dollar, the question is what the US dollar is backed? Fiat scam. :)

Bitcoin is the world most widely used cryptocurrency ever. It is widely used in different aspect like in trading ,payment method, buy goods and services in different countries. I think you're wrong or maybe you didn't study about bitcoin very well. Also bitcoin is the most valuable cryptocurrency with greater demand.

Tether thrives and appears to have a virtual life on its own within exchanges, where several virtual operations occur without touching any blockchain, but that's where it ends.

And it doesn't even has its own blockchain, it needs someone else's, and that means paying in the various coins that own each blockchain.

A "honest" Tether wallet would tell you that you need both Tether and a different coin depending on which variant you have. From an user perspective, this is simply unacceptable.

There is also the fact that, Tether price is a fiction that is kept by human intervention, within their theoretical limits. If they stick to their own plan, and nothing extraordinary occurs in the market... And both things are human factors, i hope you know where that could possibly end.

Suffice to say, world's current worst Fiat, also was pegged to the USD in 2004. Pegging is a form of "stable coin", others more subtle are direct/indirect market intervention, either buying/selling or outright freezing the exchange market. All of these are against free market trading.

IIRC it was 1 600 units per USD in 2004. Today, you would need the equivalent of 2 000 000 000 000 for 1 USD. This is what happens when you let a human factor in the equation... Stable coins are build upong promises, because thats the best humans can do, sure you could threaten them with contracts and stuff, but that doesn't remove the fundamental problem: It CAN happen, as it has happened in the past. Tether itself has experienced it, so far it was a small fluctuation, but it might happen again, not so small, because it depends on human trust, not code. And you know what humans can do, given the right  circumstances...

But what does it matter what happens within exchanges, if at the end of the day, people end depositing or withdrawing bitcoin? Of course some people use the USD alike for hedge and their trading, but in the end they don't want to keep that risky coin that a human could turn into ruin overnight. If anything, the traders using it are gambling it it won't happen to them during their operation. You know, like an MLM scheme, those few who manage to leave early, make profit...

I thought it was pretty much common knowledge by now.  The speculators are going to keep gambling anyway, because greed.  Convenience is clearly a greater concern than the mounting risks for them.  They know it's shady.

Before tether was created, there was no USD volume. But after it was created, there is a tether volume. It's just a way to say that USD has a volume on crypto exchanges. It's for me means nothing and not comparable to other coins because tether is stable and no one actually trade it, they just replace USD with it like to save their capital.

Well to start off, having the most traded volume doesn't necessarily mean a larger percentage of cryptocurrency users actually use it. It could be restricted to a fewer part of the users which trades it ti high amounts and thus, giving its numbers a pump. In terms of the real "widely-used", I think Bitcoin is still the one since it started the whole idea of blockchain and still, as you said, 70% of digital currency is still Bitcoin. It's more popular and therefore considered widely used since more people tend to use it rather than other altcoins.

The article is intentionally worded wrongly to make it seem like BTC isn't the top cryptocurrency right now, which it is. Tether is the most traded cryptocurrency, but likely not the most accepted, most popular, and definitely not a currency that you can buy items with online or in person, Tether is more a holding option.

This is also very truely, I haven't seen a lot of substantial data, but I'm pretty sure there would be whales out there that move a lot of their tether and use it as a stable holding option.

Absolutely incorrect statements. At best misleading.

You are comparing essentially a representation of fiat which is still centralised, that utilises other decentralised crypto platforms in order to host its token, to BTC which is a fully decentralised, true cryptocurrency. Is that a fair comparison to make? No.

If Tether goes bust, there will soon be other stablecoins in the market to fill that void. There is no question. Comparing a fiat token to crypto is simply unfair and goes to show the lengths that people are willing to go to in order to devalue BTC's importance.

You might change your subject topic a bit into "The most cryptocurrency used by people in trading" because yes tether is the most used crypto but only for trading. Bitcoin is still the most widely used in terms of acceptance in establishments. I have seen this post yesterday and I simply ignored it because I don't care about it. Tether?? Sucks

The widespread use of stable coins, apparently, is one of the reasons why ordinary cryptocurrency is so poorly priced. A significant part of the investment was taken by stable coins. The cryptocurrency must develop further, otherwise stable coins will assume their function of a means of payment.

I had similar thoughts. Tether usually serves as a stablecoin used by traders to trade and it  is hardly used as a cryptocurrency for the transaction of goods and services online. No one actually use Tether as a payment option. In terms of usage, Bitcoin has always been the widely used cryptocurrency. From the dark web to IEO or ICO launch, Bitcoin is the main coin accepted.

Teether acts like a safe Haven. It helps to quickly convert from a volatile market to a stable market. Not many persons daily use it in my country, people have more trust in bitcoin and will rather use it because of its volatility, as they stand to gain from its price movement than USDT.

Then it proves that even though bitcoin is the most widely known crypto in the world and of course for the beginner, there are still other crypto that are getting the first rank when it comes to trading, there are some altcoins that always being invested.

Exactly you bring it perfect mate,because even what happens still bitcoin is the only currency that mostly used specially for online transactions as payments,
Tether has a large volume of trades but again it must not consider as USED at any cost,because trading means buying and selling of the same currency while bitcoin in most time being converted to fiat to Ben used as payment or spendable currency

I have posted this earlier. I will repeat once more. Tether is used as a substitute for the United States Dollar in jurisdictions such as China where it is forbidden to trade cryptocurrency against fiat currencies. So in my opinion, Tether should not be considered as a cryptocurrency. It should be considered as a variant of the fiat currency in digital format. Tether doesn't have any of the qualities of a real cryptocurrency, such as controlled supply or anonymity. And it has a value only because it is backed up with assets denominated in USD.

Tether isn't the most widely used it is the most traded coin lol. :D
Bigger trades don't indicate that it is more widely used compared to bitcoin which has lower monthly trading volume. Bitcoin is still the most widely used cryptocurrency up to date. Trades don't indicate that a coin is being used, maybe Tether trading is more profitable than bitcoin trading for them that's why the trading volume is larger.

It is being used as a store of value as far as I know. People do use it as storing their funds in times of bear run when they expect prices to be driven down. Usage here is a dubious word. Usage can be taken in two senses, but i agree with you Cryptocurrencies are currencies which mean that they should be used as an medium of exchange so in literal sense usage in case of Cryptocurrencies should be determined by transactions only so yes Bitcoin is still the leader. But i think people still store a hell lot of money in USDT to protect themselves from volatility of market.

actually we think if you say that maybe we are not the wrong person but you misinterpret Tether and bitcoin in our opinion, bitcoin is one of the cryptocurrency that is currently widely used by many people in the world, whereas cryptocurrency Tether is supported by fiat currencies for decentralized exchange.