Trader Peter Brandt has compared holding Tether to the risk of holding ‘the Nigerian Trinket’

By Selena On Apr 30, 2020

is finally back in a real bull market reaching $9,500 for the first time since February this year. The entire crypto market skyrocketed in the last 24 hours due to Bitcoin’s upcoming halving event that is expected to take place in 12 days. Besides, Peter Brandt has taken aim at Tether, advising traders not to ‘hold it overnight’ as it was riskier than ‘the Nigerian Trinket’.

Bitcoin price and cryptocurrency market surge

At the same time, the recognized investor and chartist Peter Brandt slammed Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin in the market. He stated that holding Tether is about as safe as holding the Nigering Trinket.

Bitcoin has skyrocketed by 19% in the last 24 hours. As we can see, the virtual currency surpassed $9,300 during the European night. The last time this happened was on February 26 when the market was close to a local top of $10,300. If Bitcoin does indeed cross this aforementioned price level, we will be talking about the highest price registered for Bitcoin since September 2019.

The entire market is growing due to the narrative around the halving event that Bitcoin will experience in just 12 days. The new issuance of BTC will fall to 6.25 BTC from 12.5 BTC. If demand for the virtual currency grows, it will be possible for it to move towards new all-time highs.

Ethereum (ETH) registred gains of 12.47% surpassing $225 per coin. XRP and Litecoin (LTC( are also growing by 9.10% and 9.71% respectively. In this way, they reached $0.235 and $50.75 per coin.

Peter Brandt: Tether under attack

Tether, the largest stablecoin in the market has also been attacked by one of the most recognized chartists and analysts in the cryptocurrency market. Peter Brandt wrote on Twitter that holding Tether is “as safe as holding the Nigerian Trinket.”

On this issue, he stated:

Tether. Now that is an interesting story. Holding tether is about as safe as holding the Nigerian Trinket. I think people are fools for holding wealth — even overnight — in tether. It is a joke when ppl condemn USD as fiat, yet hold tether.

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) April 29, 2020

Brandt’s point appears to be that Tether is neither reputable nor well regulated, which makes it a risky asset in which to park funds:

Tether holders — sleep well.

Your wealth will sit overnight with a patch-work of exchanges not subject to regulatory authorities and for whose financial strength you know little about. LOL with that one.

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) April 29, 2020

He also warned investors against the idea that holding funds in Tether will prevent them from being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service or having to pay tax on their holdings:

Point of clarification for U.S. citizens. Selling BTC or other cryptos for tether does NOT let you escape the IRS. The trigger to the IRS is the amt of cryptos sold/traded. Once you hit that level (AND THAT LEVEL WILL BE DOWN TO $1k within years) you will be reported by exchange

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) April 29, 2020

Tether has been involved in several controversies over the last years. It has been many times accused of manipulating Bitcoin’s price and the crypto market. At the same time, many doubt the company behind Tether holds enough USD in order to back the entire USDT supply released to the markets.

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