Tether (USDT) — Complete Guide

USDT is the largest stablecoin by market cap, consistently above $100 billion, and the most traded asset in crypto by volume. Issued by Tether Limited (a subsidiary of iFinex, which also owns Bitfinex), it is deployed across more blockchains than any other stablecoin. USDT dominates trading pairs on centralized exchanges globally and is the primary dollar-equivalent liquidity layer in emerging markets.

Each USDT token is backed by reserves held by Tether Limited, composed of US Treasury bills, cash, cash equivalents, and other assets per quarterly attestations by BDO Italia. Users deposit USD to an authorized exchange or directly to Tether, which mints an equivalent amount of USDT on the requested chain. To redeem, users send USDT to Tether, which burns the tokens and wires USD minus a 0.1% fee. The peg is maintained by authorized arbitrageurs who mint when USDT trades above $1 and redeem when it trades below.

• +Largest stablecoin by market cap — consistently above $100 billion
• +Deepest liquidity on virtually every centralized exchange globally
• +Deployed on 10+ blockchains, making it the most cross-chain stablecoin
• +Dominant in emerging markets as a USD substitute (Turkey, Argentina, Vietnam)
• +Lowest slippage for large OTC trades due to massive supply
• +Accepted as collateral on nearly every DeFi protocol and CeFi lender

• !Reserve transparency limited to quarterly attestations, not full audits
• !Tether Limited is registered in the British Virgin Islands with opaque corporate structure
• !Historical controversy around reserve composition (commercial paper, loans) now mostly resolved