Tether, one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world by market size, came under a massive denial of service attack on June 18.
According to a tweet from Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s Chief Technical Officer, the firm received a ransom request from the hackers who attacked its system. He explained that the demand is not unprecedented because they have received it once in the past.
As a result of the attack, the stablecoin site saw 8M reqs/5min. This is a very distant shift from the usual 2k reqs/5min it receives on a normal day.
In an update about two hours after he announced that Tether was under attack, Ardoino revealed that its effect had been watered down.
No further information was provided about the attack.
Tether Struggles to Maintain Stablecoin Stronghold
Before the attack, Tether had been involved in a battle to maintain its position as the number one stablecoin in the crypto industry.
Amid a market crash that has reduced the crypto market cap to less than $900 million US dollars, stablecoins have also faced increased scrutiny.
Last month, Tether’s market cap dropped below $70 billion for the first time in seven months, according to data from Coingecko. The drop represents a 20% fall from its circulating all-time high of $83.2 billion.
The stablecoin had experienced a mini bank run when around $10 billion was withdrawn from its coffers within two weeks after TerraUSD crashed.
Tether, in one of its blog posts, had argued that its ability to meet every demand during that period showed how capable it was.
However, questions remain about its backings. Several analysts have opined that it has not been as open as rivals like USDC about its holdings and investments in the space.
USDC, in recent weeks, has seen an increase in its circulation. This included a 14% increase in its market cap between May and now.