Utexo Plans Bitcoin USDT Relaunch With RGB Protocol

| bitcoinist.com
Dubai-based Utexo plans to launch Tether’s USDT on Bitcoin on November 28, using the RGB protocol to keep transaction details off-chain. Lightning Network support is planned for the first quarter of 2027, with Utexo saying payments could settle in about 100 milliseconds. The launch revives USDT on Bitcoin after Tether ended issuance through the Omni protocol in August 2023, citing low usage. Utexo’s USDT Mint product entered early access on Bitcoin’s Signet test network on October 22 for verified exchanges, wallets and market makers. Its cross-chain model locks USDT0 on Arbitrum before minting an equivalent RGB-based USDT asset on Bitcoin; redemption reverses the process. The approach introduces bridge risk, and although Utexo says the product has been audited, the full report is not public. Tether participated in Utexo’s $7.5 million seed round in March. UniSat is a launch partner, and Utexo says it is working with 12 over-the-counter partners, with 40 more in its pipeline. Utexo targets at least $1 billion in Bitcoin-based USDT within a year, with a median goal of $5 billion and an upper ambition of $10 billion. The company is pitching privacy and faster payments as alternatives to established stablecoin activity on Ethereum and Tron, where the broader market holds about $300 billion in stablecoins. Adoption is uncertain: bridge security, limited decentralised finance support and competition from established networks could constrain demand. For USDT traders, the launch may expand payment and settlement options, but it does not by itself change the stablecoin’s dollar peg.
Neutral
The news is neutral for USDT’s price because USDT is designed to maintain a one-dollar peg, and a new Bitcoin-based issuance route does not directly change that target. In the short term, the launch could draw attention to USDT and prompt traders to monitor liquidity, redemption access and bridge operations, but the announcement alone is unlikely to move USDT materially away from its peg. Any disruption to the lock-and-mint process could create temporary venue-specific pricing differences or redemption concerns. Over the longer term, successful adoption could add another payment and settlement channel and broaden USDT’s utility. However, Utexo’s targets are ambitious, and adoption will depend on reliable bridge security, transparent audits, integration with wallets and exchanges, and meaningful demand beyond established networks such as Ethereum and Tron. The prior decline in USDT use on Bitcoin through Omni is a cautionary precedent. These factors may affect the project’s growth prospects, but they do not establish a clear directional effect on USDT’s market price.