Millions of Dollars in Crypto Moving From Moscow to China Every Day: Report

Chinese merchants in Russia are reportedly using Tether to move vast sums of money back to their home country.

Traders in Moscow say that Chinese importers, who are often working in a grey market, have been purchasing up to $30 million-worth of USDT daily, CoinDesk reports.

Says Maya Shakhnazarova, head of OTC trading at Huobi Russia,

“They accumulate a lot of cash in Moscow and need Tether to transfer it to China. A client comes with cash, we register the price at exchanges. When we agree on a price, we make a deal. The client hands over cash and a wallet address, the seller sends USDT to the wallet.”

Chinese merchants in Moscow previously used Bitcoin for remittance, but now they’ve largely switched to USDT, which is pegged to the US dollar and is less volatile.

The Chinese also appear to be undeterred by the recent questions and investigations swirling around Tether’s actual levels of reserves.

Says Vladislav Bulochnikov, the head of product at crypto wallet app provider Chatex,

“USDT will stay propped by the power of habit and trust of its users. Even if it loses half of its backing – it’ll still be out there.”