Tether dey lead $8M round for Speed to expand USDT payments for Bitcoin Lightning

Published: 2025-12-17 04:34:36 |

Tether lead one $8 million funding round for Speed, one startup wey dey build stablecoin payment infrastructure for Bitcoin Lightning Network, with Ego Death Capital join. Speed dey run Speed Wallet and Speed Merchant, dey serve more than 1.2 million users—consumers, creators, platforms and merchants—and dem don process over $1.5 billion yearly payment volume. Tether talk say the investment na part of plan to expand USDT use for Bitcoin-layer payments and to support infrastructure wey fit deliver low-fee, high-scale and compliant settlements. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino praise Speed’s Lightning-native architecture as example how to blend stablecoins with low-cost global settlement. The deal add to Tether portfolio of 140+ backed companies as the issuer dey diversify investments wey dem fund from profits from US Treasury holdings wey back USDT. Key trading numbers: $8M round, 1.2M+ users, $1.5B+ annual payments, and continued Tether backing of USDT infrastructure.

Bullish

Di investment fit likely bullish for USDT specifically. Tether $8M wey dem back Speed dey directly support on-chain and Lightning-layer payment rails wey go increase USDT utility and liquidity for payments. More merchants and users wey go adopt through Speed Wallet and Speed Merchant (1.2M+ users, $1.5B+ annual volume) fit raise transactional demand for USDT, reduce friction for fiat-crypto settlement, and strengthen network effects for USDT on Bitcoin. For short term, market price impact on USDT likely dey muted because USDT na stablecoin pegged to the dollar; but the news fit increase trading activity and confidence in USDT rails, wey go benefit USDT liquidity and market-making. For medium to long term, expanded payment infrastructure and higher on-chain/Lightning usage fit small small increase demand for USDT balances wey dey held across exchanges and payment platforms, supporting stablecoin market share versus competitors. The move neutral-to-positive for BTC price indirectly (more payment use of Lightning), but for USDT itself the effect clear support adoption—so e be bullish classification for USDT adoption and utility.