Tether Holdings, the issuer of the stablecoin USDT, has claimed that every USDT in circulation is overcollateralized and backed “in excess of 81% by cash and cash equivalents” without any commercial paper exposure. In a blog post on February 16, Tether Holdings emphasized the soundness of their stablecoin, as US regulators appear to be scrutinizing crypto projects, especially stablecoin issuers. Tether Holdings has locked $39 billion in United States Treasuries out of their cash reserves, while the remainder is tied to money market funds, reverse repo agreements, and cash and bank deposits that can be easily redeemed for cash on demand.
By keeping their reserves in treasuries and other liquid collateral, Tether Holdings is assuring the community that they are highly liquid, enabling them to process redemption demands of any size. The USDT issuer redeemed over $22 billion in 2022 alone. Additionally, the issuer reported making over $700 million in net profits in 2022, boosting their excess reserves to $982 million.
USDT now commands a larger market share, exceeding 50%, with 69,785,731,025 USDT in circulation across major blockchains and sidechains such as Ethereum, Tron, Polygon, and Arbitrum. Although USDT is gaining market share, there has been no official audit on Tether reserves. However, they constantly issue attestation reports, and the latest report by BDO showed that every coin is sufficiently backed since Tether’s assets exceeded their liabilities.
The recent order from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) directing Paxos, the issuer of BUSD, to halt minting new tokens and focus on redemption has caused BUSD to slide in market capitalization, falling from $16,104,828,484 circulating supply in the past two weeks on Feb. 1 to $13,853,012,963 circulating supply as of Feb. 16, putting BUSD at eighth place in the market cap leaderboard. Despite this, the average USDT trading volume is up over 60%, rising to $58,591,117,003 on Feb. 16.
The taxation of US dollar transactions (USDT) in Canada can be a complicated and confusing endeavour for both businesses and individuals. In order to make sure that everyone is abiding by the laws and regulations, it is important to understand how the Canadian government deals with these types of transactions.
When it comes to USDT transactions, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) considers them to be taxable events. This means that anyone who engages in USDT transactions must declare them on their taxes as either a capital gain or loss, depending on the situation. The exact way in which they are treated also varies depending on whether or not the transaction is being done through an exchange platform or directly between two individuals.
In regards to exchanges, tax implications will vary depending on how long a person has been holding onto their bitcoins for and how much money was made from trades using USDT. For example, if someone has held onto their bitcoins for more than a year before making any trades with USDT, then they will most likely be taxed on any gains earned as a capital gain rather than income – taxes would then be calculated based on the amount of profit made after deducting any losses incurred while trading. On the other hand, if someone has held onto their bitcoins for less than a year when making trades involving USDT, then they would need to pay regular income tax rates according to their total earnings during that period.
In terms of taxes that may apply directly between two individuals engaging in USDT transfers rather than through an exchange platform, there is no set rule as Canadian tax law does not have specific provisions when it comes to cryptocurrency-related activities. That said, any profits gained from such transfers should still be subject to taxation just like any other type of income or capital gains – meaning that such profits should still be reported on one’s taxes despite not having direct rules regarding this type of activity specifically outlined by CRA.
Finally, businesses operating in Canada should also note that regardless of whether their transactions involve USTD or some other form of currency, taxable events still need to be declared just like any other business operations; this includes noting any gains or losses from trading activities as well as paying appropriate payroll deductions for employees who receive payment in forms such as USDT tokens or coins. As always with taxes though, specific advice should always be sought out from professionals who are familiar with these kinds of situations so that all applicable liabilities and deductions can accurately accounted for when filing returns each year.
In conclusion, navigating through Canadian tax laws related to USTD transactions can seem daunting at first – but understanding what types of activities are considered taxable and how they are treated by CRA can help ensure everyone pays what they owe while at the same time avoiding potential penalties down the line due to incorrect reporting or lack thereof altogether. Understanding this information properly will also help businesses accurately account for all applicable deductions when filing returns each year so that everything remains compliant with current law and regulations governing this ever-changing world of cryptocurrency-related activities.