Tether discontinues USDT support on Bitcoin, Kusama and Bitcoin Cash

Stablecoin issuer Tether is discontinuing support for USDT on the Bitcoin, Kusama and Bitcoin Cash blockchains.

“We carefully evaluate the effort required, encompassing security, customer support, compliance, and regulatory oversight, to ensure the security, usability, and sustainability of the chosen blockchain,” Tether said in an announcement today. “If a blockchain lacks significant traction over an extended period and shows no signs of recovery in usage indicators, maintaining support becomes inefficient and may jeopardize security and oversight.”

“Therefore, after careful consideration, Tether will embark on a strategic transition, discontinuing support for the Kusama, Bitcoin Cash SLP and Omni Layer implementations,” Tether added.

Tether will cease minting of USDT-Omni, USDT-Kusama and USDT–BCHSLP from August 17. However, users can still redeem the tokens as usual for at least the next 12 months and can also swap them for USDT on other chains via platforms like Bitfinex, Tether noted.

End of an era

Omni was the first layer that Tether used in 2014, enabling it to issue stablecoins on the Bitcoin blockchain. While USDT usage on Omni has dwindled in recent years given the availability of the stablecoin on other blockchains, Tether said it remained open to revisiting the idea of issuing USDT on Bitcoin via Omni if there was a surge in the Omni Layer's decentralized exchange and token issuance protocol usage.

Tether said it was also actively contributing to RGB — a smart contracts system operating on Bitcoin's Layer 2 and 3 — and would return to issuing the stablecoin on Bitcoin once USDT on RGB goes live.

The Ethereum and Tron blockchain networks currently dominate USDT supply, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

Tether is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization at $83 billion, according to CoinGecko data.