Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges have accounted for more than 60% of total Tether trading globally so far in 2019, according to a report from cryptocurrency research firm Diar released on June 3.

Data provided to Diar by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis in the report highlights China has been driving demand for the US dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether, with over $16 billion received by exchanges there in 2018. This year, the number has already surpassed an outstanding $10 billion so far.

“And the demand is on the rise. In the 2018 bear market, Chinese exchanges accounted for 39% of all known on-chain transaction value for Tether. This year to date, the red dragon is responsible for a whopping 60%.”

The United States, in contrast, accounts for 3% of known volumes at $450 million, seeing its share of the stablecoin demand drop from 44% in 2017 to less than 10% in 2018 and now only 3% so far this year. Global exchanges like Binance and Bitfinex account for 31%, dropping from the 47% share seen for both 2017 and 2018.

Appetite for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in China has been on the rise amid the market rally this year. As a gateway for Chinese capital to enter the crypto markets, the foremost US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDT has seen increasing demand.

A massive fear of missing out (FOMO) buying of cryptos and the worsening US-China trade war have driven up the USDT premium on many over-the-counter (OTC) platforms in the country, finally pushing up the demand and price of bitcoin which investors turn to as the best hedge against this uncertainty.

Data from Coinlib shows that the Chinese Yuan, with a total of $334 million worth of CNY-crypto pairs flowing into the crypto market in the past 24 hours, is currently the second entry fiat currency into the crypto economy after US dollar ($957 million inflow). Tether, the major source of liquidity for the crypto market, contributed nearly $5.3 billion in the last 24 hours. If Tether’s trading volume shown in Diar’s analysis is legitimate, the 60% Tether trading Chinese exchanges facilitate will make Chinese yuan the largest entry fiat currency into the crypto economy.