Tether to discontinue USDT on five blockchains to 'refocus resources'

Tether is discontinuing redemptions for USDt (USDT) on five legacy blockchains starting Sept. 1, the company announced on Friday. The move affects users of Omni Layer, Bitcoin Cash SLP, Kusama, EOS (now Vaulta), and Algorand.

“Sunsetting support for these legacy chains allows us to focus on platforms that offer greater scalability, developer activity, and community engagement,” Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said in a statement.

Tether’s sunsetting of support for these particular blockchains has been in the works for some time. In August 2023, the company announced it would no longer be issuing USDt on the Omni Layer, Kusama, and Bitcoin Cash SLP. In June 2024, Tether halted minting on EOS and Algorand.

USDt is the largest stablecoin in circulation with a market capitalization of $139.4 billion according to Cointelegraph indexes. A review of USDt balances across the affected blockchains shows that Omni Layer holds a net circulation of $82.9 million USDt, while other networks have a smaller participation: Bitcoin Cash SLP with $986,500, Kusama with $240,000, EOS with $4.2 million, and Algorand with$841,600.

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Users on Algorand ‘should experience no disruption’

According to DefiLlama, USDt is the third-most-popular stablecoin on the Algorand blockchain. USD Coin (USDC), issued by Tether’s main competitor Circle, is the most popular stablecoin, accounting for nearly $73 million more in market cap on the Algorand network.

Top stablecoins on Algorand by market cap. Source: DefiLlama

“Our users should experience no disruption, given Tether made the decision to stop offering Tether on Algorand last year,” a representative for the Algorand Foundation told Cointelegraph. “At the time, they gave customers one year to complete redemptions. In this same year, we’ve only seen our stablecoin volumes grow.”

According to data from the Token Terminal, Algorand's revenue amounted to $42,300 over the past 30 days. Blockchain companies often make money through transaction fees.

Tether said that the discontinuance, for at least the Omni Layer, was due to the lack of USDt usage on the network.

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