Exchange Tether (USDT)

Tether: a complete guide

What is Tether

Tether (USDT) is the largest stablecoin: a token designed to stay at one US dollar. It was launched in 2014 by Tether Limited, which issues USDT against reserves that consist mostly of cash equivalents and short-term US Treasury bills.

How Tether works

USDT is not a blockchain of its own. The same dollar token is issued on many networks — TRON (TRC20), Ethereum (ERC20), BNB Smart Chain (BEP20), Solana, TON, Polygon, Arbitrum and others. Tokens on different networks are not interchangeable directly: they are moved between networks by exchanges and bridges.

What Tether is used for

USDT is used to park funds without price volatility, to settle trades, to move dollars across borders and to pay for services. It is the most traded asset in crypto and the most common way to lock in profits after selling other coins.

Sending and receiving USDT

The key choice is the network. USDT on TRON is popular for its low fees and speed, ERC20 is supported almost everywhere but costs more in gas, while Solana, TON and BEP20 are cheap alternatives. The recipient address must belong to the same network you send on, and you need the network's native coin (TRX, ETH, BNB…) to pay the fee from your own wallet.

Where to store Tether

USDT can be held in any wallet that supports the chosen network. Check that the wallet shows the official USDT contract, because fake tokens with the same name exist.

Risks and things to know

A stablecoin depends on its issuer: Tether can freeze tokens on specific addresses at the request of authorities, and the peg relies on the reserves. Sending USDT to an address on a different network is one of the most common and costly mistakes.

USDT on other networks

• USDT TRC20 — TRC20 is the token standard on the TRON network. Transfers are fast, and the fee is paid in TRX or with staked energy — it is usually lower than on Ethereum, which makes TRC20 the most popular network for USDT.
• USDT ERC20 — ERC20 is the token standard on Ethereum. It is supported by almost every wallet and exchange, but the fee (gas) is paid in ETH and grows when the network is busy.
• USDT BEP20 — BEP20 is the token standard on BNB Smart Chain, an Ethereum-compatible network. Addresses look like Ethereum addresses, and fees are paid in BNB and are usually low.
• USDT SOL — Tokens on Solana follow the SPL standard. Transfers confirm in seconds with fees of a fraction of a cent paid in SOL; receiving a new token for the first time requires a small SOL deposit.
• USDT Polygon — Polygon PoS is an Ethereum-compatible network with addresses in the same 0x format. Fees are paid in POL and usually cost a fraction of a cent.
• USDT Arbitrum — Arbitrum One is an Ethereum layer-2 network. Addresses use the Ethereum format, fees are paid in ETH and are much lower than on the Ethereum mainnet.
• USDT TON — Tokens on TON follow the Jetton standard. Transfers are fast and cheap, the fee is paid in the network's native coin, and exchanges often require a comment (memo) with deposits.
• USDT Optimism — Optimism is an Ethereum layer-2 network. Addresses use the Ethereum format and fees are paid in ETH at a fraction of mainnet cost.