Tether expands USDT stablecoin to Aptos blockchain
2024-08-19

Stablecoin issuer Tether is launching its main USDT stablecoin on the Aptos blockchain.
The integration will allow those using the Aptos blockchain to natively transact with the USDT stablecoin at a lower cost than more expensive networks like Ethereum. "This collaboration underscores our ongoing efforts to lead with innovation and support our users with stable, reliable financial tools," said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in a statement.
Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain project co-founded by former Meta engineers Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, who were previously involved in Facebook's blockchain initiative, Diem. The project's primary goal is to provide efficient, scalable, and user-friendly infrastructure for decentralized applications and smart contracts.
While Tether expanded to a lot of blockchains over the last few years, it found success primarily on just two. The supply of USDT on Tron is currently $60.82 billion and on Ethereum it's $52.99 billion. Beyond this, Arbitrum holds the next greatest amount of USDT, at $2.74 billion. Only two more chains have over $1 billion.
In June, Tether said it was stopping the minting of new USDT on the EOS and Algorand blockchains. Tether ended its stablecoin support on Bitcoin, Kusama, and Bitcoin Cash in 2023.
Last month, Tether said that it saw a record net profit of $5.2 billion for the first half of 2024, following its statement of a net profit of $4.5 billion in Q1. However, these numbers include unrealized gains in bitcoin, which saw its price decline in Q2. As a result, its profit for the first half of 2024 was only $700 million higher than Q1 alone, even though it saw a net operating profit of $1.3 billion in Q2.
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