Jack Dorsey, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and former Twitter CEO, is encouraging Signal Messenger to integrate Bitcoin for peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, a move that could shift the platform’s crypto strategy away from altcoins.

“Signal should use Bitcoin for P2P payments,” Dorsey wrote on X on April 9, replying to a post by Bitcoin developer Calle, who suggested that Bitcoin (BTC) would be a perfect fit for Signal’s private communication channel.

Source: Jack Dorsey

Dorsey’s call to action was echoed by other industry leaders, including former PayPal president David Marcus, who wrote that “all non-transactional apps should connect to Bitcoin.”

The endorsements reflect a growing push to promote Bitcoin as a functional payment system rather than just digital gold or a pure store of value, which alone — according to Dorsey — won’t ensure the success of BTC.

Signal offers payments with Sentz, formerly MobileCoin

Founded in 2014, Signal is an open-source, encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice calls and video calls.

The messenger currently offers in-app payments in MobileCoin (MTCN), a privacy-focused ERC-20 token, which rebranded to Sentz in November 2023.

Signal’s website mentions the old name of Sentz (MobileCoin) as the only supported cryptocurrency within the messenger. Source: Signal

Backed by high-profile industry players like BlockTower Capital and Coinbase Ventures, Sentz was founded in 2017 by Josh Goldbard and Shane Glyn to enable a “fast, private, and easy-to-use cryptocurrency.”

Related: Kraken taps Mastercard to launch crypto debit cards in Europe, UK

Signal came under fire over its MobileCoin integration in 2021, with many raising concerns over potential ties between Signal’s founder and MTCN, opacity around its issuance and suspicious gains leading up to the partnership’s announcement.

Cointelegraph reached out to Signal regarding potential plans to integrate Bitcoin but had not received a response as of publication.

Social media apps historically pushed altcoins

Signal is far from being alone in pushing altcoin payments instead of offering its users payments in Bitcoin, which is designed for P2P payments as its core use case, according to its anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Although former PayPal president Marcus is now advocating for Bitcoin usage by all non-transactional apps, he previously led Meta’s (formerly Facebook) project developing the firm’s own payment cryptocurrency, initially known as Libra, which eventually failed.

Source: DogeDesigner

Telegram, another messenger popular in the community, has also been aggressively pushing its ecosystem to use Toncoin (TON), a crypto asset linked to Telegram founders, though not technically managed by Telegram.

Elon Musk’s “everything app” X has also been suspected of planning to launch its own coin for a long time, but Musk publicly denied that in August 2023.

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Over the past decade, issuance of Tether’s USDt (USDT) has consistently mirrored Bitcoin (BTC) price cycles, with mints often clustering around bull runs and burns following corrections.

Data from Whale Alert shows the relation between USDT issuance and Bitcoin price movements by plotting Tether’s net minting and burning alongside the price of Bitcoin from 2015 to early 2025. 

While many in the industry have long speculated about the correlation between USDT supply and BTC performance, this data set provides a clearer timeline for evaluating that relationship.

Tether’s USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin with over $144 billion in market capitalization, has become a key liquidity vehicle in crypto markets and is often viewed as a proxy for broader capital inflows. The data from Whale Alert reinforces how tightly its issuance patterns track with Bitcoin’s price cycles, though the direction of causality remains up for debate.

Large issuances of USDT coincide with Bitcoin price spikes. Source: Whale Alert

According to crypto analyst and researcher Mads Eberhardt, a greater supply of stablecoins — including Tether — has historically correlated with positive performance in crypto markets. This relationship is also evident when looking at Tether’s mint and burn chart over time.

“However, it’s important to note that we have not observed this correlation over the past few months,” Eberhardt said. “I expect that as stablecoins see increasing adoption in non-native crypto use cases, this correlation will gradually weaken over time.”

USDT issuance and Bitcoin price spikes

Whale Alert’s data shows a consistent pattern of periods of aggressive USDT minting frequently coinciding with or closely preceding major Bitcoin bull runs. This was also apparent in late 2020 and throughout 2024 when net new USDT issuance climbed into the tens of billions as Bitcoin’s price accelerated upward.

A series of large USDT mints in late October and November 2024 accompanied Bitcoin’s rise from $66,700 to over $106,000. Source: Whale Alert

In a more recent example, Bitcoin went on a bull run from $66,700 on Oct. 25, 2024, to over $106,000 on Dec. 16. The first significant mint in this cycle was a $1-billion issuance at the end of BTC’s trip to $72,000 on Oct. 30, before a short-lived correction. Bitcoin had another climb from $65,000 to $75,000, with another $6 billion minted at the end of this rally on Nov. 6. 

Bitcoin posted moderate gains over the next three days, during which Tether minted an additional $6 billion in two batches. This was followed by a sharp rally that pushed Bitcoin to $88,000.

A mint of $6 billion on Nov. 18 marked the beginning of Bitcoin’s next leg up, kicking off a rally that pushed the price to just under $99,000 by Nov. 22. In the same stretch, Tether issued another $9 billion in three separate batches. Another mint of $7 billion on Nov. 23 came just before a brief pullback and Bitcoin’s ultimate surge to $106,000 by Dec. 17.

The timing of USDT mints in late 2024 suggests that issuance can serve as a near-term signal of rising demand — but not necessarily as a pure leading indicator.

With USDT now over a decade old since its 2014 launch, its role in Bitcoin price cycles is dwindling, Ki Young Ju, CEO of blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, told Cointelegraph.

“Most of the new liquidity entering the Bitcoin market today is coming through MSTR and [exchange-traded funds], primarily via Coinbase’s BTC/USD market or [over-the-counter] desks. Stablecoins are no longer an important signal for determining Bitcoin’s market direction,” Ju said.

“In fact, the total amount of stablecoins held on exchanges is lower than it was during the 2021 bull market,” he added.

Total stablecoins held on exchanges today is lower than it was during the 2021 bull market. Source: CryptoQuant

In many of the observed cases, the largest mints occurred during or after price momentum was already underway. 

For example, the $6-billion mint on Nov. 6 came after Bitcoin had already rebounded from $65,000 to $75,000. Similarly, more than $15 billion in USDT was minted between Nov. 18 and 23 amid rapid upward price action rather than ahead of it.

That said, there are several notable exceptions. A pair of mints totaling $7 billion around Nov. 13 and the $7 billion minted on Nov. 23 appeared shortly before fresh rallies, indicating that in some cases, large issuances may anticipate or help catalyze further price movement.

“These days, most newly issued stablecoin liquidity is either for global trade settlements or represents profits from Bitcoin’s rise being converted into liquid form, which increases market cap — not necessarily fresh inflows,” Ju said.

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USDT burns and lag behind Bitcoin corrections

Conversely, periods of sustained USDT burns — when USDT is removed from circulation — often occur during or shortly after market corrections. This pattern suggests that redemptions tend to follow price pullbacks.

This was visible in the weeks after Bitcoin’s December 2024 peak above $106,000. As BTC declined through January and into March 2025, several red bars — representing USDT burns — appeared on the chart.

Dec. 26, 2024: A major USDT burn of $3.67 billion occurs just after Bitcoin drops from around $106,000 to $95,713.

Dec. 30, 2025: A smaller burn of $2 billion follows as Bitcoin continues to decline toward the $92,000 level.

Jan. 10, 2025: A $2.5-billion USDT mint occurs before Bitcoin rebounds to over $106,000.

Feb. 28: Another $2 billion in USDT is burned following a month-long decline from Bitcoin’s six-digit peaks to around $84,000.

Unlike mints, burns rarely precede downward moves in the same way that some mints appear in front-run rallies. Instead, they tend to confirm what’s already underway. This makes them useful for tracking post-peak behavior and assessing the scale of market cooling, rather than identifying tops in real time.

Such patterns are observed throughout USDT’s existence, including a record-breaking $20-billion USDT burn on June 20, 2022, when Bitcoin tumbled from over $65,000 to around $21,000.

However, experts agree that burns don’t offer definite post-peak signals: “Currently, we have no evidence of a correlation between burns and market tops, nor as a lagging indicator,” Jos Lazet, founder and CEO of asset management firm Blockrise, told Cointelegraph.

Shifting stablecoin landscape impacting the USDT and Bitcoin relationship

While historical data shows a clear relationship between USDT supply changes and Bitcoin price movements, there are several factors that impact the price of Bitcoin, and the industry has yet to find concrete evidence that suggests USDT issuance directly influences the price of Bitcoin, or if they flow directly into Bitcoin.

“It is not feasible to relate USDT supply (or minting) to a specific trading volume, as the majority of the trading against stablecoins happens on centralized exchanges, especially relating to Bitcoin,” Lazet said.

“What can be easily seen is that the (far) majority of the trading volume relates to Bitcoin, and similarly the Bitcoin trading volume is largely done against USDT. However it (probably) won’t be feasible to directly correlate these events.”

While the connection between USDT issuance and Bitcoin price action remains debated, external forces could soon reshape how stablecoins interact with crypto markets. The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework places new compliance requirements on stablecoin issuers operating within the European Union. As a result, several exchanges have announced the delisting of USDT from their platforms. 

In the US, the proposed legislation could also reshape how centralized stablecoins like USDT are issued, backed and redeemed. Increased regulatory scrutiny may reduce the flexibility and responsiveness of issuers or prompt a shift toward more compliant alternatives.

Related: Stablecoin adoption grows with new US bills, Japan’s open approach

At the same time, competition is intensifying. Rivals like USDC (USDC), with a strong compliance posture, are gaining ground, especially among institutions. USDC lost a chunk of its market cap in 2022 and 2023 following the Silicon Valley Bank debacle, dropping from around $56 billion to around $24 billion. Since then, it has recovered to an all-time high market capitalization of over $60 billion at time of writing.

USDC market capitalization has recovered to an all-time high. Source: CoinGecko

Meanwhile, decentralized stablecoins such as Dai (DAI) are appealing to decentralized finance-native users who prioritize censorship resistance and onchain transparency.

Tether’s influence on Bitcoin and the broader crypto market remains significant. But whether USDT mints and burns will continue to serve as reliable indicators of capital flow in the coming years will be influenced by how regulatory forces, user preferences and infrastructure developments reshape the stablecoin landscape.

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Bitcoin (BTC) risks becoming part of a “classic bull trap” when the US-China trade war takes its next step, analysis warns.

In its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers on April 10, trading firm QCP Capital cautioned over the latest crypto price rebound.

QCP: Chinese “countermeasures” may leave crypto bulls stranded

Bitcoin and altcoins joined global stock markets in rallying over the past 24 hours thanks to a decision by US President Donald Trump to pause many of his new trade tariffs.

China was a clear exception to the policy, however, with Trump doubling down on tariffs while alleviating pressure on other countries. 

For QCP, now is the time not for relief, but to brace for China’s next move.

“With China singled out so explicitly, market participants are bracing for Beijing’s counterpunch,” it explained. 

“Should retaliation materialise in force, the exuberant rally could quickly morph into a classic bull trap.”

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Such a scenario would form a repeat of market behavior already seen this week. As Cointelegraph reported, an earlier rumor of a tariff pause, which failed to find official confirmation sparked whipsaw stock moves never seen before.

“The surprise policy pivot temporarily soothed market anxiety, driving short-end crypto vols lower. Still, we advocate caution,” QCP continued. 

“Our desk continues to observe topside selling in May and June, suggesting that market makers are using the rally as an opportunity to offload unwanted positions.”

Bitcoin to get “meaningful slice” of yuan outflows

Others noted potential tailwinds for Bitcoin in the form of Chinese yuan devaluation as a stopgap measure in the trade dispute. USD/CNY hit 18-year lows of 7.35 on the day.

Related: Crypto stocks see big gains alongside US stock market rebound

No deal, PBOC continues a very gradual yuan weakening. Shit ‘bout to get spicy. Luckily $BTC loves money printing and associated ccy weakness. pic.twitter.com/RcVkSj54O3

— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) April 10, 2025

“China beginning currency devaluation is more than just an economic signal—it’s a trigger,” Sina, co-founder of asset management firm 21st Capital, told X followers in part of a post on the topic. 

“Historically, when the yuan weakens, capital doesn’t stay put. It escapes. Some of it flows into gold, some into foreign assets—and a meaningful slice finds its way into Bitcoin.”

USD/CNY 1-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Sina suggested that the macroeconomic reality would make BTC exposure more attractive going forward.

“Now layer on rising tariffs, slowing global trade, and a deepening crisis of confidence in traditional financial systems. The result? A growing demand for neutral, borderless, incorruptible assets,” he concluded. 

“Bitcoin isn’t just a hedge anymore. It’s becoming a necessity in a world looking for stability outside the control of any one nation.”

In subsequent discussions, however, he acknowledged that Bitcoin had unlikely put in a long-term price bottom.

Previously, Cointelegraph reported on various BTC price targets for a sustained rebound, with many of these focusing on $70,000.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.