Tether’s USDT, the largest cryptocurrency stablecoin, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in the industry. The company’s growth has been impressive thanks to its stable user base, asset holdings that include $97 billion in U.S. government debt, and plans to partner with U.S. law enforcement agencies to strengthen its brand.
Now, the team behind Tether can find another reason to celebrate. According to the data, Tether’s USDT user growth hit its highest quarter in Q3, adding 36.25 million new users. The company added that its quarterly user data has grown an average of 9% over the past 12 months, giving it plenty of cushion to expand its use cases and applications.
USDT price trend in the past 24 hours. Source: CoinMarketCap
On-chain Tether USDT users drive growth
In a post on Tether.io, the company boasts of growing stablecoin adoption, reporting more than 330 million in-chain wallets and accounts. The company clarified that these refer to users who received stablecoins by the end of the third quarter.
Source: Tether
This number does not include users who spend their coins on centralized platforms such as Binance or Coinbase, which number in the millions. An October 16 report showed that there are tens of millions of Tether customers on these exchanges and off-chain venues.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said most of its users are from developing countries. He explained that the majority of users are buying USDT to hedge against inflation or their country’s weak monetary system.
As of today, the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies stands at $2.26 trillion. Chart: TradingView.com
Tether’s USDT is also backed by Ethereum L2 and TON
Part of Tether’s success in the industry is its support for tier 1 blockchains such as Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. The company said its Ethereum-based Layer 2 network contributed the most users this quarter. Last year, the companies that added the most users to Tether’s pool were Arbitrum and Polygon.
Source: Tether
Telegram’s The Open Network (TON) also helped grow Tether’s user base. According to Tether’s Philip Gradwell, TON added 3.3 million users in six months, representing 1% of all on-chain accounts.
Tether: The way forward
As Tether continues to gain millions of new users, the company is looking for ways to expand its reach. The company is reportedly exploring ways to enter traditional finance through loans. The company has also invested in several startups, including crypto mining companies Bitdeer and Blackrock Neurotech.
But this year’s most exciting movement is about image building. In an interview with Fox Business, Ardoino said cooperation with U.S. law enforcement is going well. If Tether’s image improves, it will likely see even more significant user growth in the coming quarters.
Featured images from Forkast News, charts from TradingView
