Tether Drops USDT on Five Chains to Boost Scalability
Tether has progressively scaled back USDT support on low–volume chains to streamline liquidity and boost scalability. In 2023, it halted minting on Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Algorand (ALGO) and stopped on-chain redemptions on those networks on July 31, 2024. Now, Tether will terminate USDT support on five legacy blockchains—ALGO, EOS, BCH, Kusama (KSM) and Omni (OMNI)—effective September 1, 2025. After that date, redemptions end and remaining USDT balances on these chains will be frozen. Traders should migrate USDT to high-utility networks such as Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX), Solana (SOL), BNB Chain (BNB) or layer-2 solutions to maintain liquidity. With nearly $160 billion in circulation, Tether’s strategic shift reduces cross-chain fragmentation, lowers transaction costs, speeds up settlements and ensures efficient institutional redemptions amid growing regulatory scrutiny.
Neutral
This consolidation of USDT support from legacy blockchains to high-volume networks is neutral for USDT’s price stability. In the short term, traders may face minor liquidity disruptions and slightly wider spreads on the affected chains, prompting token migrations. In the long term, focusing liquidity on Ethereum, Tron, Solana, BNB Chain and layer-2 solutions should improve transaction efficiency, reduce fragmentation and enhance institutional adoption, supporting USDT’s role as a stablecoin without affecting its peg. Historical shifts in redemption networks have had minimal impact on USDT’s $1 price, indicating a neutral market response.