USDT Returns Home to Bitcoin After Over a Decade

Tether's USDT stablecoin is returning to its roots on the Bitcoin network after over a decade, according to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. The move will see the largest stablecoin by market cap, with a value of nearly $190 billion, issued through Utexo, a Tether-backed infrastructure project. Utexo was founded in 2025 and has been granted a commercial license to issue USDT on Bitcoin.

The return of USDT to Bitcoin is seen as a strategic move for Tether, which holds around 100,000 BTC ($8.4 billion) as of mid-August this year. Utexo's co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk stated that 'Tether has always been a Bitcoin company' and sees the network as a stability haven, along with gold.

Utexo aims to provide an architecture for USDT that is more confidential than its equivalent on Ethereum or Tron. The RGB protocol will employ client-side validation to keep transaction data largely off-chain, using Bitcoin's UTXO model to demonstrate proof of ownership.