Tether's USDT stablecoin has achieved a historic milestone, reaching a market capitalization of $100 billion, marking a 9% growth since the year's commencement. This achievement underscores Tether's dominant position over its closest rival, USD Coin (USDC), which has also seen growth in market cap this year, albeit trailing by more than $71 billion.

This notable feat for Tether occurred on March 4, although the $100 billion milestone has not been universally recognized across all data sources, such as CoinMarketCap. Intriguingly, Tether's market cap now places it on par with BP, a British oil and gas behemoth, and slightly above e-commerce giant Shopify.

Tether, a cryptocurrency tethered to the US dollar, operates on 14 different blockchains and protocols. Currently, it stands as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, following Ether. As the cryptocurrency market surpasses a $2 trillion market cap, Tether has emerged as a vital blockchain-based option for crypto traders seeking a dependable asset.

Behind Tether stands a company of the same name, asserting that each USDT token is backed 1:1 with independently audited reserves, predominantly consisting of yield-bearing U.S. Treasury Bills. By the end of 2023, Tether reported significant quarterly profits of $2.85 billion, with $1 billion originating from its T-Bills.

While the backing of USDT has sparked debates within the crypto community, Tether is moving forward with plans to reduce its exposure to specific high-risk assets. Despite initial commitments to cease lending from its reserves by the end of 2023, Tether concluded the year with $4.8 billion in loans – $1 billion less than the beginning of the year.

Tether's USDT is predominantly issued on the Tron blockchain, which was recently highlighted in a United Nations report as a favored choice among cyber fraudsters and money launderers based in Southeast Asia. Tether vehemently denied these allegations, emphasizing their active cooperation with law enforcement and underscoring the traceability of the token.