Tether’s GENIUS-compliant USAT stablecoin launches on Celo, marking first expansion beyond Ethereum

Tether's U.S.-compliant USAT stablecoin is launching on Celo, its second mainnet launch following the Ethereum mainnet, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

The (USAT) token will have native mint and burn functions on the blockchain, and can be used to pay gas fees on the blockchain. Celo introduced fee abstraction through its CIP-64 upgrade, enabling ERC-20 tokens to be used as gas currencies.

"Expanding USA₮ to Celo was a deliberate decision," Tether US CEO Bo Hines said in a statement. "USA₮ is designed to operate in environments where digital dollars are already being used at scale, and that is what Celo has built, with hundreds of thousands of people transacting on the network every day."

The firms had announced the Celo launch in March, ahead of today's deployment.

Celo “has emerged as the #1 distribution network” for Tether’s flagship USDT stablecoin, accounting for its largest base of weekly active users following its 2024 deployment. The announcement notes that Celo accounts for 28% of cross-blockchain USDT transfers and maintains over 90% market share of XAUt0, the omnichain version of Tether Gold.

There is approximately $470 million of USDT "authorized" on Celo (CELO), according to Tether’s data, making it the token’s eighth-largest chain by market capitalization. Though other sources suggest Celo's total stablecoin circulating supply is closer to $136 million, with a 57.6% Tether dominance at $78.8 million.

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USAT launched in January and has grown to a $185 million market cap (compared to USDT's $180 billion), according to The Block’s data. The token was designed to comply with the GENIUS Act stablecoin law in the U.S., including maintaining 1-1 reserves in cash or high-quality, liquid cash equivalents like Treasurys.

The token is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered crypto-native bank, regulated by the OCC. Hines is a former advisor to the Trump administration, having served as the executive director of the President's Council of Advisers on Digital Assets from January to August 2025.

Celo was founded in 2017 and launched its mainnet as a mobile-optimized, energy-efficient Layer 1 blockchain on Earth Day in 2020. In March 2025, the network completed its transition to an Ethereum Layer 2 built on the OP Stack to gain stronger security, scalability, and interoperability while keeping its low fees and mobile-optimized design.

Internet browser Opera launched a self-custodial stablecoin wallet on Celo with support from Tether that has reportedly onboarded over 18 million global users, according to the announcement.