Tether has rolled out its US dollar-pegged stablecoin, USDT, on the Aptos blockchain, aiming to cut down transaction costs compared to the more expensive Ethereum network.
This integration is part of Tether’s larger strategy to make digital currencies more accessible and functional on a global scale, according to a press release.
By leveraging Aptos’ blockchain technology, which is known for its scalability and speed, Tether aims to offer users much lower gas fees, reportedly costing only a fraction of a penny.
The integration is also expected to make transaction fees more economically viable for various use cases, ranging from microtransactions to large-scale enterprise operations.
At its core, Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain co-founded by former Meta engineers Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, who previously worked on Facebook’s blockchain initiative, Diem.
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The Aptos blockchain has seen massive growth this year, with average daily active users increasing from 96,000 in January to 170,000 in July. The network also processed a record 157 million transactions in a single day in May 2024, highlighting its capacity to handle high transaction volumes.
“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.
Earlier in July, blockchain analytics provider Nansen partnered with Aptos to bring onchain analytics and data to the Aptos ecosystem. This partnership seeks to support the growth of the Aptos network by providing users and investors with the tools they need to identify and track ongoing trends within the blockchain.
Tether’s expansion into various blockchains over recent years has been met with varying degrees of success. The majority of USDT supply is concentrated on the Tron and Ethereum networks, holding $60.82 billion and $52.99 billion, respectively. Arbitrum follows with $2.74 billion in USDT, with only two other chains exceeding $1 billion in supply.
In June, Tether announced it would stop minting new USDT on the EOS and Algorand blockchains, following a similar cessation on Bitcoin, Kusama, and Bitcoin Cash earlier in 2023.
Last month, Tether reported a record net profit of $5.2 billion for the first half of 2024, despite a decline in Bitcoin’s price during the second quarter. This profit includes unrealized gains in Bitcoin, with a net operating profit of $1.3 billion in Q2, contributing to an overall profit increase of $700 million compared to Q1.
