Exploring the Differences between Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 After Tether Mints 4B USDT in 4 Weeks

Tether’s USDT Minting

Major stablecoin issuer Tether has been actively minting new USDT (USDT) tokens, with 4 billion USDT being released over the past month.

On Nov. 10, Whale Alert reported that Tether had issued another 1 billion USDT on the Tron blockchain. This followed the issuance of 1 billion USDT on Ethereum on Nov. 9, and 2 billion USDT on the Tron blockchain on Nov. 3 and Oct. 19.

Tether chief technology officer and new CEO Paolo Ardoino commented on the Whale Alert data via X (formerly Twitter), referring to the latest 1-billion-USDT transaction on the Tron network as a “USDT inventory replenish.”

This year, Tether has minted a total of 22.75 billion USDT, of which 57% (or 13 billion) has been issued on the Tron blockchain. The remaining 9.75 billion USDT was issued on the Ethereum blockchain.

Differences between Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0

There are notable differences between Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0. Web 1.0 was the first generation of the World Wide Web, which was essentially a collection of static webpages. Web 2.0, on the other hand, was the second generation of the web and focused on user-generated content and interactivity. Web 3.0, also known as the Semantic Web, is the current generation of the web and is focused on AI technology and machine learning. Finally, Web 4.0 is the next generation of the web and is expected to be focused on the Internet of Things (IoT).

Tether’s USDT Activity

Tether has been regularly issuing USDT stablecoins over the past year. Whale Alert data shows that Tether minted a total of 9 billion USDT coins in March 2023, in addition to the 3 billion minted the month before. Furthermore, Tether minted 3.75 billion USDT between June 12 and July 12.

The stablecoin issuer has also been burning some coins. On Aug. 22, Tether burned 1.2 billion USDT on the Tron blockchain. In the past, the firm also burned 3.1 billion Tron USDT in June and 2 billion Ethereum USDT in February, according to Whale Alert.

The crypto community has been quick to respond to the most recent USDT minting transactions. One crypto enthusiast posted on X about how the aggressive Tether USDT minting in the past has impacted the market. “Last time this much Tether got printed in a week a whole bank blew up,” the poster noted, referring to banks like Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate and Signature Bank shutting down operations in March 2023.

Differences between Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0

Recently, after the failure of some banks, there were claims about the connection between Tether and Signature. Tether denied such allegations, saying that it had no relation to Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

Tether’s CEO announced that the company plans to introduce five new projects in 2024. According to him, some of these projects could replace some popular Web2 centralized services.

Tether did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.