190 billion dollars to “go home”: USDT has drifted for more than a decade—this month it returns to the Bitcoin network 🦖
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The world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, with a market value of nearly 19 billion dollars, is expected this month to issue on the Bitcoin network again via a project supported by Tether, Utexo. Note: this is not a new stablecoin—USDT’s original home has always been Bitcoin. In 2014, it was born on the Bitcoin network using the Omni protocol. Later, as faster and cheaper options emerged, the main battlefield shifted to Ethereum and TRON. After years of circling back, it’s now moving to the oldest chain.
This time, it’s taking a new approach. Utexo was founded in 2025. Earlier this year, it raised a $7.5 million seed round and has already obtained commercial authorization to issue USDT on the Bitcoin network. What it plans to do in three areas: privacy-enabled USDT transfers, direct exchanges between native Bitcoin and USDT, and loans backed by native Bitcoin. At the core is an architecture based on the RGB protocol—using client-side validation to keep most transaction data outside Bitcoin’s public ledger. In other words, transfer traces won’t be visible across the entire network the way they are on Ethereum or TRON. 🔍
Tether has already “voted with its feet.” According to Bitcoin Treasuries, Tether held about 100,000 Bitcoins as of mid-August, worth roughly $8.4 billion at the time. In a single line on a social platform, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said: “It’s coming home.”
Utexo co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk put it more plainly: “Tether has always been a Bitcoin company. Bitcoin is the stable anchor for them, like gold.”
My take comes in three layers. First, this feels more like a “back door” return home: Bitcoin’s main-layer throughput is limited, so running a stablecoin directly there isn’t realistic. By coming back on RGB’s off-chain verification approach, USDT is essentially conceding that the main layer only serves as a settlement and anchoring layer. Second, privacy is the selling point—but for addresses that are sanctioned or tied to wrongdoing, Utexo uses “blacklisting UTXOs,” not “freezing addresses.” That’s a new compliance posture, and whether regulators accept it is the biggest variable. Third, Utexo says that after the initial launch, it will expand USDT to the Lightning Network. Only once it truly lands can it potentially unlock the missing “payments narrative” that Bitcoin has long lacked. ⚖️
On the flip side, the stablecoin battlefield is firmly in the hands of Ethereum and TRON right now. Is USDT returning to Bitcoin just sentiment, or can it genuinely reclaim market share? I lean toward this: in the short term, it’s a good narrative; in the long term, it depends on whether the Lightning Network and fees can hold up.
Do you think USDT’s “return home” this time can reshape Bitcoin’s payments landscape? Let’s discuss in the comments 👇
Click the avatar to watch the live stream
every day, I’ll help you track the hottest moments in the crypto market—not just what news happens, but also how to understand the underlying logic and opportunities 👀🚀
🕐 最新解读群里更新
The world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, with a market value of nearly 19 billion dollars, is expected this month to issue on the Bitcoin network again via a project supported by Tether, Utexo. Note: this is not a new stablecoin—USDT’s original home has always been Bitcoin. In 2014, it was born on the Bitcoin network using the Omni protocol. Later, as faster and cheaper options emerged, the main battlefield shifted to Ethereum and TRON. After years of circling back, it’s now moving to the oldest chain.
This time, it’s taking a new approach. Utexo was founded in 2025. Earlier this year, it raised a $7.5 million seed round and has already obtained commercial authorization to issue USDT on the Bitcoin network. What it plans to do in three areas: privacy-enabled USDT transfers, direct exchanges between native Bitcoin and USDT, and loans backed by native Bitcoin. At the core is an architecture based on the RGB protocol—using client-side validation to keep most transaction data outside Bitcoin’s public ledger. In other words, transfer traces won’t be visible across the entire network the way they are on Ethereum or TRON. 🔍
Tether has already “voted with its feet.” According to Bitcoin Treasuries, Tether held about 100,000 Bitcoins as of mid-August, worth roughly $8.4 billion at the time. In a single line on a social platform, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said: “It’s coming home.”
Utexo co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk put it more plainly: “Tether has always been a Bitcoin company. Bitcoin is the stable anchor for them, like gold.”
My take comes in three layers. First, this feels more like a “back door” return home: Bitcoin’s main-layer throughput is limited, so running a stablecoin directly there isn’t realistic. By coming back on RGB’s off-chain verification approach, USDT is essentially conceding that the main layer only serves as a settlement and anchoring layer. Second, privacy is the selling point—but for addresses that are sanctioned or tied to wrongdoing, Utexo uses “blacklisting UTXOs,” not “freezing addresses.” That’s a new compliance posture, and whether regulators accept it is the biggest variable. Third, Utexo says that after the initial launch, it will expand USDT to the Lightning Network. Only once it truly lands can it potentially unlock the missing “payments narrative” that Bitcoin has long lacked. ⚖️
On the flip side, the stablecoin battlefield is firmly in the hands of Ethereum and TRON right now. Is USDT returning to Bitcoin just sentiment, or can it genuinely reclaim market share? I lean toward this: in the short term, it’s a good narrative; in the long term, it depends on whether the Lightning Network and fees can hold up.
Do you think USDT’s “return home” this time can reshape Bitcoin’s payments landscape? Let’s discuss in the comments 👇
Click the avatar to watch the live stream
every day, I’ll help you track the hottest moments in the crypto market—not just what news happens, but also how to understand the underlying logic and opportunities 👀🚀
