Tether Mints Another $2 Billion in USDT, Coinciding with Bitcoin's Breakout Past Its Previous Peak

In a forceful and possibly linked series of happenings, Tether has minted another $2 billion in USDT today. This closely coincides with Bitcoin's breakout past its previous peak.

In a forceful and possibly linked series of happenings, Tether has minted another $2 billion in USDT today. This closely coincides with Bitcoin’s breakout past its previous peak.

From data CoinGecko provides, the most popular cryptocurrency registered the price of $109,368 as its all-time high, which occurred just before our press time. It has since settled around $109,358. Whatever way you slice it, Bitcoin is up. And how are those two things related?

According to Coingecko, Bitcoin has surpassed $109,358, reaching a new all-time high. In the past 24 hours, approximately 99,000 traders were liquidated across the market, with total liquidations exceeding $300 million, including around $200 million from short…— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 21, 2025

Bitcoin’s leap sent the entire market reeling. In the past 24 hours, around 99,000 traders saw their positions liquidated, with total liquidations clocking in at over $300 million. One astonishing aspect of this is that $200 million of this represented traders going from short to long positions in Bitcoin, which kind of shows where sentiment is headed. Going back to the previous paragraph, this fresh high is occurring just after Tether minted more USDT, and earlier, we suggested that large minting events might be linked to Bitcoin’s recent price ascent.

Tether’s Growing Footprint and a Historic Year for USDT Minting

Tether has been absolutely booming since the start of 2025. So far this year, the company has created a staggering $15.7 billion worth of USDT, taking into account both fresh issuances and burned tokens. For the most part, this consistent growth has occurred on the Tron and Ethereum blockchains—Tether’s platforms of choice, thanks to their robust liquidity (and consequently, low slippage) and nearly universal presence across the crypto ecosystem’s exchanges and DeFi protocols.

The newest issuance of $2 billion is not an isolated event but part of a clear pattern in recent months. From April 23 to May 7, Tether minted around $6 billion in USDT. During those same days, Bitcoin reemerged above the $100,000 line after three months of sitting below it, leading many to see a direct connection between the upward swing in Bitcoin and the newfound liquidity afforded by Tether.

An analogous situation unfolded on May 15, when another $2 billion in USDT was created. Soon afterwards, Bitcoin price once more skyrocketed, this time punching through the $105,000 ceiling. With today’s stablecoin market being replenished to the tune of $2 billion, and Bitcoin price now well above $109,000, the correlation between those two events seems to have tightened in the mind of quite a number of traders and analysts.

Tether minted another 2B $USDT an hour ago. Will this drive $BTC's price up?

In 2025, #Tether minted a total of 15.7B $USDT(including burns) on #Tron and #Ethereum.

As shown in the image below, Tether's minting of $USDT has typically led to a rise in $BTC's price.

From April… pic.twitter.com/4fpiB1ad52

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 21, 2025

Stablecoin Liquidity: Fueling the Fire or Following the Flame?

The connection between Tether minting and Bitcoin price increases has been closely studied by the crypto community, though there remains some disagreement over what, exactly, these events signify. Some researchers argue that more Tether means more market demand for Bitcoin, even if Tether isn’t strictly a vehicle for getting Bitcoin into investors’ hands. Others think that when Tether is being minted, that’s a sign of rising Bitcoin demand, while also considering Tether a Bitcoin proxy of sorts.

No matter which side of the argument one favors, the data is compelling. Every major USDT mint this year has synced up closely with big upward moves in Bitcoin. The consistent coupling of minting events and price surges has made Tether’s blockchain activity into a must-watch signal for traders.

Market positioning is another essential element. Traders have been betting against a near-term breakout, as shown by the $200 million in liquidations that occurred in the past 24 hours. These forced liquidations create cascading buy orders that drive prices up and exacerbate volatility. In this scenario, the presence of Tether in the market ensures that there are enough capital and liquidity to absorb the buying pressure created by cascading forced liquidations without triggering a price reversal.

Looking Ahead