Crypto Markets Roiled as Traders Question Tether's Dollar Peg
- Tether slides below $1 amid fresh concern over dollar backing
- Bitfinex dismisses rumours, says withdrawals working as normal
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A sudden exodus from the most popular dollar-linked cryptocurrency rippled through digital asset markets on Monday, saddling some investors with losses while propelling Bitcoin to its biggest gain in more than three weeks.
Tether, the so-called stablecoin used as a substitute for the U.S. currency on crypto exchanges around the world, broke its historically tight link with the greenback, touching 85 cents on U.S.-based venue Kraken. Transactions on Binance, one of the world’s most active platforms for Tether, recently implied a price of about 96 cents, according to CoinMarketCap.com. Bitcoin jumped as much as 8.9 percent to $6,769 as Tether holders shifted into alternative virtual currencies.