Tether’s USAT moves beyond Ethereum, eyes new revenue

Tether has taken a significant step in its U.S. expansion strategy, announcing that its regulated stablecoin, USAT, is moving beyond the Ethereum mainnet to the Celo blockchain.

This marks its first multi-chain deployment and signals new monetization opportunities for investors. Tether is using Google Cloud and Self to give users greater access. According to its official press release, Tether says USAT follows trusted accounting standards and adheres to the regulations in the GENIUS Act.

Tether puts its USAT stablecoin on Celo so more people can use it

According to the company’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, partnering with Celo will give people access to “trusted, programmable money” that works in real-world situations.

Ardoino said, “This is how we continue to extend access to trusted, programmable money at a global scale. What matters now is ensuring these systems are accessible in the environments where people are already transacting every day.”

With USAT now on Celo, people can use stablecoins in everyday transactions beyond trading or holding tokens online through their phones.

Celo governance manages the Celo network and will allow people to use USAT as a gas currency, making transactions simpler, cheaper, and faster by allowing them to pay transaction fees with the same stablecoins they use for transfers.

Similarly, early investors will benefit from the network’s growth, as revenue streams from fees and network activity will increase as more people use USAT for everyday trading and transactions grow. 

Tether is using this opportunity not only to expand its technology on Celo’s mobile-friendly network, but also to connect the USAT stablecoin to a growing number of users ready to adopt it. 

Google Cloud gives users access to USAT and creates new revenue streams for investors

Tether will use a mainnet faucet, a system supported by Google Cloud and Self, that allows users to receive stablecoin directly into their digital wallets. The system is fast, simple, and uses a proof-of-humanity mechanism to protect users’ privacy while ensuring only real people can obtain the tokens.

The mainnet faucet also plays a significant role in creating new revenue opportunities for investors by making USAT easier and safer to access, thereby increasing transaction volume and fees paid.

Similarly, the faucet focuses on privacy to ensure users receive USAT directly in their wallets without sharing personal data, thereby increasing adoption, as many people had previously avoided digital assets due to data safety concerns.

The system also complies with the regulations under the GENIUS Act to make USAT more trustworthy for everyday users and investors.

According to Celo co-founder Rene Reinsberg, the launch of USAT on Celo is “a powerful validation of the infrastructure we’ve spent years building.”

He said the launch combines the rules for a regulated stablecoin, Google Cloud’s technical support, and Self’s identity verification system to make USAT ready for large-scale adoption and real-world financial activity.

Furthermore, USAT has strong financial backing, as the professional auditing firm Deloitte verified that Tether had $17.6 million in cash and U.S. Treasury bills to support $17.5 million in tokens as of January 31.

Investors expect to generate substantial revenue from transactions, as Layer-2 networks like Celo can process more transactions faster and more cheaply than main networks. Similarly, Celo has access to Opera MiniPay’s 14 million users already familiar with digital wallets and stablecoins, so investors can expect USAT adoption to continue to rise.

Tether also announced the launch during a time when stablecoin adoption is at its peak, as analysts expect the total market for these digital assets to reach $2 trillion by 2028. The company wants to capture a large share of this growing market by adding USAT to a fast, mobile-first network with privacy and compliance features.

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