In a significant move, Tether, the renowned stablecoin issuer, has announced its decision to discontinue USDT support on three major blockchains: Bitcoin, Kusama, and Bitcoin Cash. This decision comes after a meticulous evaluation process where Tether weighed in on various factors, including security, customer support, compliance, and regulatory oversight.
Tether’s primary goal has always been to ensure the security, usability, and sustainability of the chosen blockchain. However, when a blockchain fails to gain significant traction over an extended period and shows no signs of recovery in usage indicators, maintaining support for it becomes inefficient. More importantly, it might jeopardize the security and oversight of the platform.
Given these considerations, Tether has embarked on a strategic transition. They are discontinuing support for the Kusama, Bitcoin Cash SLP, and Omni Layer implementations. This decision means that Tether will stop minting USDT-Omni, USDT-Kusama, and USDT-BCHSLP from August 17. However, this doesn’t spell the end for users holding these tokens. They can still redeem the tokens as usual for at least the next 12 months. Additionally, they have the option to swap them for USDT on other chains through platforms like Bitfinex.
This move marks the end of an era. Omni was the very first layer that Tether utilized back in 2014, allowing it to issue stablecoins on the Bitcoin blockchain. Over the years, the usage of USDT on Omni has seen a decline, especially with the stablecoin’s availability on other blockchains. Despite this, Tether has expressed that it remains open to the idea of reissuing USDT on Bitcoin via Omni. This would be contingent on a surge in the Omni Layer’s decentralized exchange and token issuance protocol usage.
In line with its commitment to the Bitcoin ecosystem, Tether has been actively contributing to RGB, a smart contracts system operating on Bitcoin’s Layer 2 and 3. The company has plans to return to issuing the stablecoin on Bitcoin once USDT on RGB goes live.
Currently, the Ethereum and Tron blockchain networks dominate the USDT supply, as per data from The Block. With a market capitalization of $83 billion, Tether stands as the largest stablecoin, as reflected in CoinGecko data.
