Via indexbox.io
Tether-backed USAT goes live on Celo with built-in transaction fee support
The US-regulated stablecoin's first expansion beyond Ethereum targets Celo's millions of mobile-first users in emerging markets
Celo has added native support for USAT, a US dollar stablecoin backed by Tether, expanding regulated digital dollar access across its ecosystem.
The deployment, announced on Wednesday, makes Celo the second network after Ethereum to host native USAT and introduces several features from launch, including native minting, redemption and the ability to use USAT as a gas currency for transactions.
Issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, USAT is backed by reserves custodied by Cantor Fitzgerald and designed to comply with the requirements of the GENIUS Act.
Celo said its gas payment model removes a common crypto onboarding hurdle by allowing users to pay fees with stablecoins rather than requiring a separate blockchain token. The network’s fee abstraction technology, now formalized under CIP-64, has already driven stablecoin-based gas payments, with more than 50% of Celo fees paid using stablecoins, the team added.
The launch strengthens the relationship between Tether assets and Celo. The network has become the top distribution platform for USDT by weekly active users, accounting for 28% of USDT transfers across blockchains. Celo also dominates adoption of XAUt0, holding more than 90% of unique holders for the omnichain Tether Gold asset.
Celo CEO Marek Olszewski said USAT will bring compliant dollar infrastructure to users already relying on the network for payments, savings and commerce.
“Bringing Anchorage and Tether’s trusted, compliant stablecoin infrastructure to Celo is the critical next step in our work building a trillion-dollar onchain economy that is more accessible, efficient, and equitable than the systems that came before,” Olszewski stated.
Tether US CEO Bo Hines added that Celo’s existing stablecoin activity made it a natural expansion target.
USAT adoption will continue through Celo-based applications. Opera’s MiniPay wallet, which has more than 18 million users, plans to add support for USAT, expanding its existing Tether asset offerings. Valora has already integrated the stablecoin, while additional support is expected from protocols including Morpho, Squid and Uniswap.