What is Tether?

USDT launched in 2014 as the original fiat-backed stablecoin. Tether Limited holds reserves — primarily US Treasury bills — to back every USDT in circulation. The token is deployed on more than a dozen chains, with the largest balances on Tron and Ethereum, making it the dominant settlement medium for centralized exchanges and cross-border crypto flows.

USDT chain footprint

Tether is currently deployed on 103 chains with the largest balance on Tron (45.2% of supply). Mechanism: Fiat-backed. Live circulating supply is $189.57B, with a 24h change of -0.05% and 30d change of 2.95%.

USDT risks and peg history

Tether's reserve composition has been disputed multiple times since 2017. Audits are now produced by BDO Italia rather than a Big Four firm. Regulatory risk is concentrated in the BVI and El Salvador, with NYAG settlements (2021) limiting US activity. Brief peg deviations have occurred during banking stress events (March 2023) and exchange runs but USDT has consistently restored peg within hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is USDT fully backed by US dollars?

Tether's quarterly attestations show reserves are dominated by US Treasury bills (~75%) with smaller allocations to repos, money-market funds, gold, and Bitcoin. The exact composition fluctuates each quarter; the most recent attestation is published on tether.to/transparency.

Which chains have the most USDT?

Tron and Ethereum together account for the vast majority of circulating USDT. Solana, BSC, and Arbitrum host meaningful balances. Live per-chain breakdowns appear on the chart above.

What is the difference between USDT and USDC?

USDT is issued by Tether (BVI/El Salvador) while USDC is issued by Circle (US, regulated under the GENIUS Act). USDC publishes monthly attestations from Deloitte and is generally favored by institutional and US-regulated venues; USDT dominates global retail flows and emerging-market on/off-ramps.

Has USDT ever lost its peg?

USDT has briefly traded below $1 during stress events — most notably during the Bitfinex/iFinex banking issues in 2018 and the March 2023 USDC banking incident. Each deviation has resolved within hours as arbitrageurs minted/redeemed at par.