Tether Limited Inc. has announced a significant increase in the supply of its stablecoin, USDT by minting another $1 billion worth of USDT on the Tron blockchain. This issuance will bring the total amount of USDT minted in 2024 to an impressive $33B. Out of total $33B USDT, $19B USDT were minted on Tron network while the rest $14B were minted on Ethereum blockchain. Tron is known for its scalability and low transaction fees and the decision to allocate 1B USDT to Tron network highlights a strategic move. Following the latest transaction, market capitalization of USDT has reportedly risen to $117B.
This increase follows a similar recent increase of 1B USDT. Tether top leadership previously had termed similar increases as mere inventory replenish which means that the transactions were only authorized and not issued. Inventory replenishment means that the extra stablecoin is intended only to be treated as inventory for the issuer’s next batch of issuance requests and chain swaps. It is done for efficient liquidity management as the issuer anticipates an increased customer demand for its coin. It is believed that Tether used its own treasury wallet, “Tether Treasury” for the current transaction. However, no official statement has been made so far by the company.
In addition to expanding its presence on Tron, Tether has also been engaging with other blockchains to ensure that USDT remains widely usable. In another related development on August 19th, 2024, Tether launched its stablecoin USDT on the Aptos blockchain. With this move, Tether intends to increase its global usage and accessibility. This decision is also intended to lower the transaction fees for wider use cases.