About Tether
Tether (USDT) is a fiat-collateralized stablecoin issued by Tether Limited, designed to maintain a one-to-one peg with the U.S. dollar. It functions as a digital representation of USD across multiple blockchains. Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins, and Craig Sellars founded the project in 2014 under the name Realcoin before rebranding it to Tether. The first tokens were deployed on the Omni layer of the Bitcoin blockchain, with the initial 100 USDT minted on October 6, 2014. Tether does not operate its own blockchain or consensus mechanism. Instead, it issues and redeems tokens off-chain while USDT circulates on top of existing networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, and Solana, inheriting each host chain's consensus rules. The token trades under the ticker USDT and is used primarily as a stable medium of exchange, a settlement asset, and a leading trading pair on cryptocurrency exchanges. USDT supply is uncapped; Tether mints and burns tokens in response to market demand and redemptions. Circulating supply stood in the range of roughly 183 to 189 billion dollars in 2026, making it the largest stablecoin by supply. USDT is widely used as a bridge between traditional currencies and the broader cryptocurrency market.
Tether supply drops $6.6 billion in 60 days, outpacing the post-FTX decline
The rapid decline in Tether's supply highlights potential liquidity concerns in the stablecoin market, emphasizing the need for vigilant monitoring.
Over $10 billion in leveraged Bitcoin shorts stack up near $83K, raising squeeze risk
The significant accumulation of leveraged Bitcoin shorts heightens market volatility, potentially triggering a cascading short squeeze effect.
Ukraine’s fiber-optic drones face supply squeeze as AI data centers compete for cable
The competition for fiber-optic cables highlights the strategic vulnerabilities and economic pressures in military and tech sectors globally.
Upbit to list Hyperliquid’s HYPE token in KRW, BTC and USDT markets on November 10
The listing of HYPE on major Korean exchanges could significantly enhance liquidity and accessibility, impacting its market dynamics and adoption.
TRON moves $16.6 million through Allbridge Core in 30 days
TRON's dominance in stablecoin transfers highlights its critical role in liquidity concentration, posing systemic risks due to dependency on its network.
TRON adds $16.1 billion to native stablecoin market cap in a year
TRON's growing stablecoin dominance could attract more liquidity but poses concentration risks due to heavy reliance on USDT.
A sourced map of Tether's relationships is on the way.
Partners, competitors and related assets, each link independently verified and source-linked before it appears here.
The Crypto Briefing podcast is on the way.
Conversations on Tether and the wider market, hosted by our team, will appear here once episodes are live.