Tether will deploy USDT on the Bitcoin and Lightning Networks

The Taproot Assets network will be used for the integration

31.01.2025 - 08:45

2 min

What’s new? Tether plans to collaborate with Lightning Labs to deploy its USDT stablecoin on the underlying Bitcoin blockchain and the Layer 2 (L2) Lightning Network based on it. The integration will utilize Lightning Labs’ Taproot Assets network, which enables interoperability between stablecoins and other assets on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Material The Block

What else is known?

“By enabling USDT on the Lightning Network, we are not only reinforcing Bitcoin’s foundational principles of decentralization and security but also creating practical solutions for remittances, payments and other financial applications that demand both speed and reliability,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told The Block.

Some time ago, the company also added support for several new networks for USDT, including Celo, The Open Network (TON) and Aptos. That said, it discontinued the asset on the Kusama, Bitcoin Cash SLP, and Omni networks in 2023 due to low demand.

Bitcoin-based Omni was the first network where Tether deployed USDT. Today, the vast majority of USDT is issued on the Ethereum and TRON blockchains.

USDT is the largest stablecoin and holds a 66% market share, with a total capitalization of $212 billion.

Over the past year, the capitalization of USDT itself has grown by more than 45% to over $139,4 billion, but the asset recently lost third place in the overall cryptocurrency ranking to Ripple’s XRP token.

Crypto. com will delist USDT for users in the EU on January 31

Earlier, Coinbase also removed the asset from its European platform

Tether is currently facing problems in the European Union. USDT does not meet the requirements of the recently enacted Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation in the bloc, causing local exchanges and affiliates of global platforms to delist the asset.

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