Recently, ShapeShift, one of the rare instant asset exchanges in the world, announced its support for the 8th largest cryptocurrency, Tether [USDT].

On their official Twitter handle, ShapeShift announced:

“Great news $USDT is available on ShapeShift! Buy & sell #USDT along with dozens of digital assets. Learn more about this token here: http://tether.to @Tether_to”

Tether is a cryptocurrency that has a controversial history attached to it. The stable coin that is pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar to eliminate risks posed by volatility was reported to have made false claims of possessing USD reserves, hence duping its users. However, the team dispelled all the allegations through a report wherein it provided public information and transparency regarding its funds.

Matt Crane, a cryptocurrency and blockchain space enthusiast and a coder took a critical tone. On ShapeShift’s post, he commented:

“Can you describe the sense of desperation at the meeting where that was decided to be a good idea?”

Another Twitter user, es kay, criticized Shapeshift’s move to add support for Tether and stated:

“This is honestly the wrong move and y’all should know better.”

However, Dieter HASTINGS, a ShapeShift and USDT follower gave a positive view and said:

“I can’t wait to see the USDT trading stats. I bet USDT will trade <$1 on shapeshift. Let the arbitrage begin!”

ShapeShift has been in the news for a while now, for several reasons ranging from the introduction of KYC [Know-Your-Customer] to the announcement of shutting down their child company, Prism.

Prism, which is a software by ShapeShift, enables users to access their portfolios of digital assets in a seamless manner. They announced that they will be shutting down their services on 11th October 2018. As a result, the exchange instructed its customers to close their open accounts on Prism prior to the date. The company gave a subtle indication that Prism is being shut down to build full-fledged products in the future, using the underlying technology.

Earlier this month, ShapeShift also introduced a loyalty program for its user, called the ShapeShift Membership. However, participation was not merely a choice but was announced to be mandatory in the future.

Here, the platform stated that the basic level of membership would require its users to enter basic personal information. ShapeShift was heavily criticized for the move by many experts in the cryptocurrency space and was accused of capitalizing on user’s personal data.

The post Tether [USDT] gains support from ShapeShift; users criticize the move appeared first on AMBCrypto.