The stablecoin has expanded its reach significantly over the past year
Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, has recently minted an additional $1 billion worth of USDT tokens on the Tron blockchain. This latest minting event was identified earlier today when blockchain data revealed that these new tokens were sent to Tether’s treasury wallet on Tron. This brings Tether’s total USDT issuance over the past year to a substantial $33 billion.
According to Lookonchain, a blockchain analytics platform, Tether’s treasury wallet has seen significant activity in the past year. Specifically, 19 billion USDT tokens were created on the Tron network, while another 14 billion were minted on the Ethereum blockchain. This activity highlights Tether’s ongoing efforts to maintain a robust supply of USDT, which is crucial for ensuring liquidity across different blockchain networks.
This recent minting on Tron follows a similar transaction on Ethereum just a week prior, where Tether minted another $1 billion worth of USDT. Tether’s CEO, Paolo Ardoino, explained that these transactions are part of a routine inventory replenishment process. While the tokens are minted and authorized, they are not immediately issued into circulation. Instead, they are held as inventory, ready to be used for future issuance requests or chain swaps as needed.
This strategy allows Tether to manage its liquidity effectively, ensuring that it can meet the demands of its users without overwhelming the market with an excessive supply of new tokens. The recent mint on Tron, in particular, suggests that there may be growing demand for USDT on this network, as Tether’s treasury on Tron had only $36 million worth of authorized but unissued USDT as of yesterday.
Tron’s dominance in the stablecoin market is further underscored by recent data showing that it holds 37.9% of the total stablecoin market share, with over $61 billion in stablecoins on the network. This places Tron ahead of other blockchains in terms of stablecoin supply, reinforcing its importance in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.
While Tether has not released an official statement regarding the specific purpose of the new $1 billion USDT tokens on Tron, they are likely intended to meet the ongoing demand for USDT on the network. Tether continues to manage its inventory and issuance across multiple blockchains and these actions play a critical role in maintaining the stability and liquidity of the USDT stablecoin, which remains a key asset in the cryptocurrency market.
