Could this be the season of diversification for stablecoins? Just a few days ago, Circle announced the launch of Euro Coin (EUROC), and now it’s Tether’s turn to add another string to its bow. The company has announced the creation of GBPT, a stablecoin based on the British pound.
GBPT, a new stablecoin for Tether
A month ago, the company announced the release of MXNT, a stablecoin based on the Mexican peso. Now it’s the turn of the British pound (GBP) to attract Tether’s interest, with the GBPT. This brings the number of stablecoins issued by Tether to four, along with USDT and EURT. Like the other assets, GBPT will be backed by its reference fiat currency at a 1:1 ratio.
The choice of the British pound is no accident. As Tether points out, the UK Treasury recently announced that it wants to make the UK a hub for cryptocurrencies. With in particular a recognition of stablecoins as valid forms of payment.
Hence this desire of Tether to position itself in territories where this type of cryptocurrencies can evolve. As a reminder, there has been more of a distrust from other major economies when it comes to taking stablecoins into account, and even more so since the Terra/UST case.
Tether’s GBPT has a lot of potential anyway: USDT remains by far the most capitalized stablecoin at $67 billion. It is noted, however, that EURT has a capitalization of “only” $216 million.
Tether bets on the UK
Emphasizing Tether’s very “regulator-friendly” approach, CTO Paolo Ardoino confirmed that he sees the UK as a global nerve center:
“We believe the UK is the next frontier in terms of blockchain innovation, and the broader implementation of cryptocurrency for financial markets.”
The company also hopes that the stablecoin will provide a gateway role for key blockchain sectors, including decentralized finance (DeFi).
In any case, the major stablecoin issuers seem to be playing the diversification card in recent months, and relying on other fiat currencies than the dollar. At Circle, the EUROC, backed by the euro, has recently made its debut.
Will Europe be left behind? Unfortunately, that is the risk. Large US-based companies are starting to offer stablecoins backed by European currencies, but so far no major initiative from the Old Continent has managed to emerge.
