# Tether

Tether (USDT) is arguably the most popular stablecoin, a cryptocurrency tied to a stable asset such as gold or fiat currency. Tether aims to bring the innate stability of fiat currencies to the crypto market, with the goal of ensuring easier and faster currency conversion and streamlined handling of digital payments on a global scale. Tether coin’s history started with its predecessor Realcoin, which was developed by Brock Pierce, Craig Sellars and Reeve Collins back in 2014. Soon afterwards, the coin’s name was changed to its current form. Tether is tied to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that it should be traded at the stable rate of 1 tether coin for 1 US dollar. Units of the cryptocurrency are called “tethers” or “tether coins” which are described as being fully backed by the real-world reserves of the US dollar. Based on this, traders should be able to trade currencies between crypto exchanges at a more stable rate while the underlying technology should provide them with an opportunity to use a system claiming to be more secure, faster and cheaper compared to regular banking transactions. Recently, Tether has made news due to facing a major legal trouble, with the currency being under investigation for an alleged cover-up together with Bitfinex after losing some USD 851 million of client and corporate funds.