Digital-Dollar Boom Reshapes Crypto as Growth Trades Misfire (1)

For a few hours last weekend, Tether’s USDT stablecoin became more valuable than Ether.

The crossover was brief. The symbolism was harder to ignore.

Ether, the token that powers the Ethereum blockchain, has long been viewed as one of crypto’s most important assets and a proxy for the growth of decentralized finance. Tether’s USDT, by contrast, is designed to maintain a steady value of $1 and functions primarily as a digital dollar for trading and payments.

That a stablecoin could briefly overtake Ether in market value speaks to a broader shift underway across digital assets.

Crypto’s recent downturn has battered ...