Stablecoin issuer Tether is ending its USDT support for five blockchains effective on September 1, the company announced on Friday, ending redemptions and freezing the remaining assets on those blockchains.
Last June, the firm ended its minting function on Algorand and EOS (now called Vaulta), meaning it would no longer issue new stablecoins on those chains. In 2023, it announced the same for Bitcoin Cash, Kusama, and Omni Layer Protocol.
Now, Tether has put a hard end date on its stablecoin support on the group of five “legacy” blockchains as part of its efforts to “optimize infrastructure, align with community usage trends, and refocus resources toward high-utility, actively developed blockchains.”
The firm acknowledged that while the networks supported Tether’s early growth, the share of trading volume for its stablecoin has declined dramatically in the last few years.
“As the digital asset ecosystem evolves, Tether remains committed to adapting alongside it,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino in a statement. “Sunsetting support for these legacy chains allows us to focus on platforms that offer greater scalability, developer activity, and community engagement—all key components for driving the next wave of stablecoin adoption.”
Holders of USDT on the aforementioned blockchains are encouraged to redeem their tokens as soon as they can, or request an issuance of USDT on a supported blockchain.
Moving forward, it plans to focus its support for layer-2 networks and growing blockchain ecosystems.
Stablecoins have been a key theme in the crypto industry of late, highlighted by the U.S. push for regulatory clarity for the tokens with the GENIUS Act. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently suggested that the tokens–which are typically anchored to the price of the U.S. dollar–could help bolster U.S. dollar supremacy.
Tether’s USDT stablecoin is the largest stablecoin in crypto with nearly $160 billion in minted stablecoins in circulation according to CoinGecko’s market capitalization data.
