Tether Throws Down the Gauntlet: Stablecoin Giant Eyes Corporate Mining Dominance

The crypto colossus behind USDT just fired a warning shot across the bow of industrial-scale miners.

Subheader: From stablecoins to hashpower?

Tether's latest move suggests it's tired of playing banker while others strike digital gold—now it wants a piece of the mining action. No more sitting on the sidelines counting those sweet, sweet stablecoin issuance fees.

Subheader: The ultimate vertical integration play

Imagine a world where the company minting your stablecoins also controls the infrastructure validating transactions. Decentralization purists are already reaching for their smelling salts.

Closing thought: Because when you've already cornered the market on crypto's dollar proxies, why not go for the whole stack? Just don't expect Wall Street to notice—they're still trying to figure out if Bitcoin is a stock or a bond.

Tether hints at competing with corporate miners

Tether may expand its mining influence at a time when the Bitcoin network is working at a record hashrate, and remains profitable for most participants. 

The Bitcoin network hashrate recently fell to a six-month low, sinking back to around 700 EH/s. This WOULD translate into a lower network difficulty and easier competition for miners. The easier mining arrives at a time when BTC managed to recover above $107,000, making block production still profitable for most pools. 

There are a few remaining miners with solo operations, as even big data centers often add their hashrate to pools. Some of the biggest operations include Mara Holdings, CleanSpark, IREN, Core Scientific, and others. Tether itself has not reported the exact hashrate or share of mining operations. 

Unlike corporate miners, Tether has also not positioned itself as a BTC treasury company, despite its vast holdings accrued over the years. Tether also denied rumors of going public or tying its stock price to BTC holdings. 

Earlier this year, Tether shared that it intends to set aside another $500M for mining activity. Tether also stated it would point most of its mining capacity at Ocean Pool, a relatively small operation with 9.61 EH/s. 

So far, Tether has only contributed a part of the pool’s hashrate, and there are no signs the company holds enough capacity to surpass giant operations like Mara Holdings with over 57 EH/s. Tether’s known wallets also rarely show BTC inflows, especially those identifiable as originating with mining pools. 

Ocean Pool aims to offer zero-fee access, as well as direct decentralized payments for all participants. If Tether is indeed serious about becoming a leading miner, the pool’s hashrate may reflect the expansion.

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