Tether USDt (USDT) Market Value Falls $810 Million in Five Days

Tether USDt (USDT) lost $810 million in market value between mid-October daily readings, raising questions about dollar-linked liquidity as Bitcoin (BTC) tried to extend its recovery.

USDT’s market value fell from $183.87 billion in the Oct. 15-16 reading to $183.06 billion in the Oct. 20-21 reading. At 11:40 a.m. ET (15:40 UTC) on Oct. 20, it stood near $183 billion. The broader stablecoin market was valued at $301.4 billion, up $1.6 billion over 90 days.

The USDT decline alone does not show that $810 million left crypto. Holders can shift to other stablecoins, and buyers can acquire Bitcoin without using USDT.

Earlier holder-balance changes illustrate the limits of treating a USDT decline as a measure of outflows. From early July through Oct. 1, 19 identified exchanges and lenders reduced their USDT holdings by $4.6 billion while adding about $1.9 billion in other stablecoins. A further $1.5 billion in USDT went to wallets with no identified holder.

Those earlier movements do not measure USDT redemptions during the mid-October decline. The change in USDT’s market value also does not establish whether demand or trading liquidity has strengthened enough to sustain Bitcoin’s recovery.