Tether announced a change in its USDT issuance strategy, ending support for Bitcoin, Kusama, and Bitcoin Cash, while indicating possible future collaborations.
Tether, the issuer of the stablecoin USDT, has announced a major change to its support for various blockchains. After an extensive evaluation focusing on security, customer service, regulatory compliance, and overall oversight, Tether has discontinued support for USDT on the Bitcoin ( BTC ), Kusama ( KSM ), and Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) platforms.
The company cited lack of traction as the main reason, saying that “when blockchain does not show a significant increase in usage for a considerable period of time, it becomes increasingly challenging to justify the necessary resources and oversight. It may even pose potential security risks.”
The direct impact of this move will be the cessation of USDT-Omni, USDT-Kusama and USDT-BCHSLP minting from today, August 17th.
Nonetheless, Tether has assured users that USDT redemptions on these platforms will continue to follow standard procedures over the next 12 months.
Additionally, for those seeking an alternative, there is the option of exchanging the affected USDT for other versions through platforms such as Bitfinex.
Omni is the groundbreaking layer used by Tether in 2014 to facilitate its stablecoin issuance on Bitcoin. Although Omni usage for USDT has gradually waned due to the availability of stablecoins on other blockchains, Tether has not completely closed the prospect.
They could reconsider issuing USDT in Bitcoin through Omni, especially if Omni Layer’s decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and token issuance protocols see a significant increase in activity.
Tether is also working with RGB, a smart contract system on Bitcoin’s layer 2 and layer 3. In the future, once the USDT implementation on RGB is up and running, they can issue USDT on Bitcoin.
