Tether mints $1 billion worth of USDt on the Tron network, showing how important the blockchain has become for stablecoin transactions.
Blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence revealed that stablecoin issuer Tether minted 1 billion USDt tokens, worth $1 billion, on Tron. It paid no fees for the minting.
A Tron-based wallet sent the tokens to a wallet address ending with TBPxh, which Arkham has labeled “Tether: MultiSigwallet.” From there, the 1 billion USDt tokens were sent to Tether’s treasury—this massive transaction occurred without any fee payment.
Tron Has Become a Stablecoin Hub
Tether has about $62.7 billion in USD on the Tron network, taking it very close to Ethereum, which has $62.9 billion worth of the tokens deployed. While Ethereum is a much larger blockchain ecosystem than Tron, the two have almost the same amount of stablecoins circulating through them.
Tron has become a hub for stablecoin transactions owing to its dirt-cheap transaction fees. Stablecoins were a tremendous part of the network generating $533 million in revenue during the third quarter of 2024. Many stablecoin firms are minting large amounts of tokens om or transferring them to Tron because of how inexpensive it is to transact. Blockchain users from developing nations find the network attractive for that reason, turning to it to overcome the high fees experienced on other networks.
The network also grew to exhibit the second-largest stablecoin market share of any blockchain ecosystem in August 2024. 37.9% of the stablecoin market share was on Tron. Ethereum boasts the largest stablecoin market share in its ecosystem, with 55.7% of stablecoins flowing through it.
Tether also minted $1 billion worth of USDt on Tron in August to “replenish” the stablecoin supply on the network, according to the stablecoin issuer’s CEO Paulo Ardoino. He also noted that the tokens were authorized but not issued. As of today, they remain unissued and will be when a new issuance is made. The tokens will trade on the open market then.
Tether has issued USDt on Tron about 14 times this year, driving the stablecoin’s share in the blockchain up drastically from what it was at the start of the year—$48.8 billion.
Stablecoin supplies indicate market sentiment and investor interest, with growing supplies acting as a bullish indicator. Traders use that to speculate asset prices and get into positions accordingly. Reduced supplies indicate reduced interest and participation in the market, which occur during bear markets.
