Tether appears to shed 2 billion in supply since yesterday

With the whole world talking about stablecoins, we've been keeping an eye on tether, the oldest and largest stablecoin.

• Be smart: Stablecoins are important to traders because they give them an easy way to lock in gains. If you just made a smart trade on a temporary imbalance in the market, you don't want to put those gains in bitcoin, which could drop in value suddenly and wipe out your cleverness.

Why it matters: Questions have always swirled around tether, which says it has its tokens fully backed with more than adequate reserves, but its relationship with banks has always been shaky, and it's never submitted to a full audit.

• Amid the market drama this week, CoinGecko and Messari data show about 2 billion tether (roughly $2 billion worth) being removed from supply between yesterday and today.
• Tether early Thursday announced a reshuffling of supply across various blockchains.

Of note: When reached for comment, a spokesperson for Tether said it would soon issue a response to clarify this.

• We have sourced the numbers from two different data sources, and as of now they have not been disputed by Tether. But we will update this story with any supply clarifications from the company.