Tether：准备接管世界的稳定币发行者

Tether 作为加密货币行业顶级的稳定币发行商，似乎正朝着占领世界的方向发展。我完全赞成！

Crypto industry’s top stablecoin issuer, Tether, seems to be on a mission to take over the world. And I’m all for it!

加密行业最大的稳定币发行商 Tether 似乎肩负着接管世界的使命。我完全赞成！

Two days ago, the company made a surprising announcement that it just bought a 9.8% stake in Latin American agricultural giant Adecoagro. The purchase was worth around $100 million.

两天前，该公司发布了令人惊讶的公告，刚刚收购了拉美农业巨头Adecoagro 9.8%的股份。此次收购价值约 1 亿美元。

Adecoagro is one of Argentina’s largest milk producers, handling over 550,000 liters of milk daily. It also runs sugarcane fields spanning more than 193,000 hectares in Brazil, producing ethanol and refined sugar.

Adecoagro 是阿根廷最大的牛奶生产商之一，每天处理超过 550,000 升牛奶。该公司还在巴西经营占地超过 193,000 公顷的甘蔗田，生产乙醇和精制糖。

Plus, they’re into renewable energy too.

另外，他们也热衷于可再生能源。

Tether’s getting into the real world, not just limiting itself to crypto. And by all accounts, it is also sitting on a fat pile of cash.

Tether 正在进入现实世界，而不仅仅局限于加密货币。从各方面来看，它也坐拥大量现金。

As of August, Tether’s reserves were around $118.4 billion, with $5.3 billion in excess reserves. The company also made a cool $5.2 billion in profit just from the first half of the year. It’s insane!

截至 8 月份，Tether 的储备金约为 1184 亿美元，其中超额储备金为 53 亿美元。仅今年上半年，该公司就实现了 52 亿美元的利润。太疯狂了！

Tether’s market cap is at $114 billion, and it has been flexing its financial muscles all year. Now let’s talk about what these guys are planning and where they even came from.

Tether 的市值为 1140 亿美元，全年都在展示其财务实力。现在让我们来谈谈这些人正在计划什么以及他们来自哪里。

The origin

起源

Tether was not always “Tether.” In 2014, it started as Realcoin, in Santa Monica. Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins, and Craig Sellars were behind it, with the first tokens launched on Bitcoin’s blockchain in October 2014 using the Omni Layer Protocol. 

Tether 并不总是“Tether”。 2014 年，它在圣莫尼卡成立，名为 Realcoin。 Brock Pierce、Reeve Collins 和 Craig Sellars 是其幕后推手，于 2014 年 10 月使用 Omni Layer 协议在比特币区块链上推出了第一批代币。

Realcoin used Bitcoin’s infrastructure for things like contracts and exchanges, trying to take advantage of Bitcoin’s unprecedentedly strong security. 

Realcoin 将比特币的基础设施用于合约和交易所等方面，试图利用比特币前所未有的强大安全性。

Tether’s founders had big plans, too. They wanted to work with banks, exchanges, and ATM providers to make their vision work globally.

Tether 的创始人也有宏伟的计划。他们希望与银行、交易所和 ATM 提供商合作，让他们的愿景在全球范围内发挥作用。

However, by November 2014, they ditched the Realcoin name and went with Tether. Then, things really took off. The company issued three main tokens backed by fiat currencies—USD Tether (US+), Euro Tether (EU+), and Yen Tether (JP+). 

然而，到 2014 年 11 月，他们放弃了 Realcoin 名称，转而使用 Tether。然后，事情真的开始了。该公司发行了三种由法定货币支持的主要代币——美元 Tether (US+)、欧元 Tether (EU+) 和日元 Tether (JP+)。

At the time, it was not backed by any independent audits. Tether was incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and set up offices in Switzerland, but unfortunately, it didn’t show much transparency.

当时，它没有得到任何独立审计的支持。 Tether 在英属维尔京群岛注册成立，并在瑞士设立了办事处，但遗憾的是，它并没有表现出太多的透明度。

Tether’s big boom

Tether 的大繁荣

Between 2015 and 2018, Tether exploded in size. It was listed on Bitfinex, and from 2017 to 2018, the amount of Tether tokens grew from $10 million to $2.8 billion.

2015 年至 2018 年间，Tether 规模呈爆炸式增长。它在 Bitfinex 上市，从 2017 年到 2018 年，Tether 代币的数量从 1000 万美元增长到 28 亿美元。

During that time, Tether accounted for about 80% of Bitcoin trading volume, and people used it everywhere to swap into crypto.

在那段时间，Tether 占据了比特币交易量的 80% 左右，人们到处用它来兑换加密货币。

Of course, this kind of growth draws a lot of unwanted attention.

当然，这种增长会引起很多不必要的关注。

By 2018, when Tether’s price dropped to $0.88 briefly, it scared a lot of traders. There were concerns about credit risks, and people started dumping their Tether for Bitcoin.

到了 2018 年，当 Tether 的价格短暂跌至 0.88 美元时，吓坏了很多交易者。由于担心信用风险，人们开始抛售 Tether 转而购买比特币。

Later in 2018, things got worse. The Wall Street Journal reported that one of Tether’s owners, Stephen Moore, was involved in using fake invoices and contracts to get around banking rules in China. Tether’s reputation took a hit, and it released a statement calling the Journal’s claims inaccurate and misleading. 

2018 年晚些时候，情况变得更糟。 《华尔街日报》报道称，Tether 的所有者之一史蒂芬·摩尔 (Stephen Moore) 涉嫌使用虚假发票和合同来规避中国的银行规定。 Tether 的声誉受到打击，并发表声明称《华尔街日报》的说法不准确且具有误导性。

That worked as well as you’d imaginee. 

这和你想象的一样有效。

Tether today

今天系绳

In 2019, Tether overtook Bitcoin in trading volume, and by 2021, it was responsible for about half of all Bitcoin trades. That’s wild. But it’s also drawn the attention of regulators.

2019 年，Tether 的交易量超过了比特币，到 2021 年，它约占所有比特币交易的一半。那太疯狂了。但这也引起了监管机构的关注。

Tether got fined for not having full reserves during 2016–2018 and for failing to show proof of its assets. The company claimed that all its tokens were backed 1-to-1 by fiat currency. 

Tether 因 2016 年至 2018 年期间没有足额储备以及未能出示资产证明而被罚款。该公司声称其所有代币均由法定货币一对一支持。

But when it revised this in 2019, it turned out that Tether was only 74% backed by actual reserves. The rest? Receivables and other assets.

但当 2019 年对其进行修改时，发现 Tether 只有 74% 是由实际储备支持的。其余的部分？应收账款和其他资产。

In 2021, the company settled a lawsuit with the New York Attorney General’s office for $18.5 million without admitting wrongdoing. It wasn’t a great look, but the company kept pushing forward.

2021年，该公司以1850万美元与纽约总检察长办公室达成和解，但未承认有不当行为。虽然外观并不好看，但该公司仍在不断前进。

“I’ve been vocal about my concerns regarding regulations that require stablecoins to hold significant reserves in uninsured cash deposits. Such mandates could endanger the financial stability of those relying on USDT, and I believe there are better ways to ensure safety without compromising access for millions of users.”

“我一直直言不讳地表达了我对要求稳定币在未投保的现金存款中持有大量储备的法规的担忧。此类授权可能会危及那些依赖 USDT 的人的财务稳定性，我相信有更好的方法可以确保安全，同时又不影响数百万用户的访问。”

— Paolo Ardoino

— 保罗·阿尔多伊诺

While other crypto companies struggled in 2022, Tether emerged

当其他加密货币公司在 2022 年举步维艰时，Tether 却出现了