Tether makes 'strategic investment' into LayerZero Labs, creator of tech used for USDT0

Tether USDT, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, has invested in LayerZero Labs as part of its support for interoperability infrastructure, according to a statement on Tuesday. The company did not disclose the level of its investment.

Leveraged by Everdawn Labs, LayerZero's interoperability protocol has been used to create the omnichain version of Tether's stablecoin, USDT. That cross-chain token, USDT0, is a fully onchain representation of USDT, enabling the world's most used USD-pegged token to extend onto chains where it is not natively issued.

USDT0 tokens are minted using LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token standard and maintain a 1:1 backing with USDT. Since launching at the beginning of 2025, USDT0 has been used to execute more than $70 billion in cross-chain value transfers, Tether said.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino added in a statement that LayerZero "has built interoperability technology that allows digital assets to be transferred in real-time across any transport layer and distributed ledger, enabling a fundamental utility within the financial industry."

The stablecoin issuer's team believes LayerZero's protocol will help AI agents "operate their own autonomous wallets and frictionlessly transact with stablecoins and digital assets at scale."

Tether, which is likely the world's most profitable crypto organization, has been growing a diverse investment portfolio in recent years. That includes Tether saying last week it had made a strategic investment in t-0 network, "a USDT-powered settlement platform for licensed financial institutions."

The company also recently invested $150 million in direct-to-consumer marketplace Gold.com.