On August 19, 2024, Tether announced its plans to launch USDT on the Aptos network, marking another step in Tether’s global expansion strategy. The goal is to provide accessible and practical cryptocurrency options to people worldwide, and Aptos has been identified as an ideal partner for this initiative.
Aptos is an infrastructure-focused blockchain with key strengths, such as high transaction speed and scalability. Its recent growth has been notable, with daily active users increasing from 96,000 in January to 170,000 by July 2024.
In May, Aptos briefly surpassed Solana to become the Layer-1 blockchain with the highest single-day transaction volume.
The integration of USDT on Aptos brings additional advantages, such as extremely low gas fees, which reduces transaction costs. This makes the platform suitable for various applications, ranging from small-scale transactions to large enterprise operations.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, expressed excitement about the partnership:
“We at Tether are excited to collaborate with Aptos and integrate USDT into their ecosystem. This reinforces our mission to make digital currencies more accessible and useful. Aptos’ advanced technology provides a solid foundation for faster and more cost-effective USDT transactions, aligning with our commitment to innovation and supporting users with stable and reliable financial tools.”
Mo Shaikh, CEO of Aptos Labs, which is providing technical support for the integration, said:
“The addition of USDT to Aptos is a significant milestone for us. This partnership will boost Aptos’ capacity to manage high transaction volumes and rapidly expand its user base. As part of the Aptos community, I’m excited to see developers across our ecosystem collaborating with Tether to push the limits of blockchain technology globally.”
Bashar Lazaar, Head of Funding & Ecosystem at Aptos Foundation, also commented:
“We are building a global DeFi and payments ecosystem with institutional-grade standards, emphasizing speed, decentralization, and interoperability. Leveraging Move on Aptos will enhance efficiency, and the launch of USDT on Aptos will drive adoption and increase utility across the Aptos ecosystem, benefiting institutions, Web3 developers, and everyday users alike.”
According to Tether’s website, there are currently about 116 billion USDT in circulation across 16 blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, TRON, Avalanche, and Polkadot. With this new integration, Aptos will become the 17th network to support the world’s largest stablecoin.
However, Tether is not solely focused on expansion. It regularly evaluates performance on older networks and has discontinued USDT issuance on platforms with low transaction volumes. For example, Tether recently ceased operations on the EOS and Algorand networks in June.
As of August 19, 2024, the price of APT has shown little reaction to this news, remaining around $6.
